Missing Persons: Aftermath
by Clarity2199
Summary: Re-edited. Continued from the first 'Missing Persons', suggest you read that first, yaoilemon, detailed sex scenes, some lang, JxK, Kaiba tries to return to normal after the kidnapping, but is now pursued by Joey. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

This is the continuation of the original story, 'Missing Persons'. I highly suggest that the original story is read first before going to this one, so you know what's going on. It takes place almost right after the first story ended. Yaoi and lemon, strong detail in some of the sex scenes, rated R. I do not own Yugioh, or have anything to do with it. My stories are simply fanfics, or made-up stories for the free pleasure of others.

* * *

Chapter 1.

Kaiba sat calmly at a very long table filled with mostly female executives, at either side of him were his lawyers. At the other end of this long table was a very frustrated Sharon Matagachi, the new head of Charujin Corp., which was going through some major changes....that is, if they could survive the potential lawsuit threatening to wipe the company out, before they could even make the changes. It was only days since the incident, and Kaiba was already out of the hospital, met with his lawyers, and was now having a meeting with this corporation over what had happened.

Ms. Matagachi was not having a fun time, staring down at potential bankruptcy and permanent jail time. Perhaps taking claim as the new head of this corporation wasn't such a good idea, after all. 'Look at him with that smug smile plastered on his face. What the hell does that bastard want?'

Charujin's female lawyer, Ms. Deluge, spoke up, "On behalf of Ms. Matagachi, we have been trying to come up with an agreement to come to some sort of....settlement, to reimburse you on Kaiba Corporations....'inconvenience'. I have been discussing the matter personally with your lawyers, Mr. Kaiba, but for some reason, we cannot seem to come up with a price you are satisfied with. We were hoping this meeting would help resolve the matter."

"I understand." Kaiba said coldly, with a smile on his face that only made the opposite end of the table squirm. "Then allow me get the point, so I no longer need to further burden you or your company. The reason you can't come up with a price is because there is NO amount of money that will satisfy me."

Ms. Matagachi at that moment slammed her hands against the table and rose, saying, "So what you're saying is that you wont be satisfied until you see our company go out of business....is that it? Do you really want to get into a messy court battle, that would not only hurt our company, but yours as well? Make no mistake Mr. Kaiba, that the details will have to come out regarding what happened to you on this affair, if you are to take us down. Are you truly that anxious to let that happen to you?"

Kaiba's smile did not fade even for a moment though, as he explained, "You misunderstand, Ms. Matagachi. I didn't say I'm not interested in settling....I merely said I am not interested in money."

"Then....what do you want?" Matagachi asked, not expecting that as a response.

Kaiba stayed silent, and simply nodded to the lawyer on his left.

The male lawyer stood, and read, "Mr. Kaiba is willing to settle, if Charujin Corporation is willing to hand over all the technology pertaining to the experimental machine that had been used on him, including any of the mechanical remains of the machine after the explosion, past prototypes, and all the software and hardware that has any significance to the device."

"What?? We can't just hand over one of the top inventions of our corporation! That item is going to bring our company to be the top selling company in this world!" Matagachi cried.

"You just don't get it, do you? I am doing you a favor by asking for this. If you don't settle now, I will take you to court, and I will win. And no....I wont care if it comes out that I was temporarily changed by your machine. Do you know why? Because when I am done suing Charujin, I will not only own that invention, I will own your corporation. And while you and your corporate heads are spending time in jail, you will be able to read the newspaper, seeing that my so-called humiliation had turned into the perfect advertisement slogan, proving that the product works. Kaiba Corporation will become so powerful, I will become untouchable. This is your last chance....what's it going to be?" Kaiba asked. "You are wasting my time, and I have other business matters to attend with, including filing the lawsuit on your company."

Ms. Deluge looked down sadly at her client, as Ms. Matagachi sighed heavily, and collapsed her head into her hands. What choice did she have?


	2. Chapter 2

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 2.

At Charujin Corporation, they were forced to close for the day, as they became invaded by contractors from Kaiba Corp, that scooped every piece and bit from the top floor, loaded them into dump trucks, and were hauled away to be shipped to Kaiba Corp, and sifted through. Scientists were led into the various rooms where they transferred many files of Charujin's to another hard drive, then took the entire drive for themselves, with all information pertaining to the equipment. Other pieces of equipment, including the older prototypes, were also seized. Finally Kaiba himself was led to the card room that they once claimed to be his room, and he took the computer.…an item he also listed in their settlement. He did not want Charujin to be trying to copy his simple card test program that he put in there, during the time he was calling himself Krysonna.

The phone rang, and Kaiba picked it up, saying, "Seto Kaiba....what is it?"

"Seto....where are you? You're supposed to still be in the hospital!" Mokuba cried out to him.

Kaiba smiled, "Sorry Mokuba, I had other plans. There's an important matter I have to attend to. I'll be meeting you at the office soon."

"All right…then I'll see ya there." Mokuba said. Mokuba should have known his brother would try to get out early. Kaiba never liked hospitals and was too business oriented to lay there for long, before he began to start climbing the walls.

A couple of KC scientists approached him now, saying, "Sir…we now have all the information on the schematics of the machinery, both old and new."

"Good." He said coldly. "Let me know when you have everything."

"But, sir....why do you want this machine? This really has absolutely no relationship to anything that Kaiba Corp. deals with. Do you plan on starting up a subsidiary company involving genetics?" He asked.

"No....what I do with the machine is my business, alone." Kaiba stated.

The other scientist gave a wry sneer, saying to the first questioning scientist, "Perhaps Mr. Kaiba is gaining a new....preference to be this other sex." With a snicker after it. The first scientist said nothing, looking at the second guy with panic on his face, worried that the comment might get them both fired.

Kaiba glanced coldly at his mocking employee, then looked away and replied with a smile, "Actually, I was thinking of using this on my employees as a new disciplinary device...."

They both looked at him, turned pale, then quickly left Kaiba to continue their work without question. He was glad to have the fools gone. He knew that would happen though, lawsuit or no lawsuit....too many people knew what had happened to him. He knew the rumor would eventually take off and float around.

He hoped it would simply dissipate before it got too far. But the question brought him back to what he really did want with the device. It brought his thoughts back to Joey....the very thought of him was painful, as he could still feel Wheeler's body wrapped around his in a heat of passion, when he was changed....and then he thought of the kiss they had shared at the hospital not very long ago. He knew Wheeler was going to return and find him again. There was no way Joey was going to just leave it like that. No....he would keep coming, and Kaiba was no longer sure anymore he'd have the strength to resist him.

'With the rumor already spreading around, all I need is something like that to happen. Doesn't he get it, yet? If he does this to me, he'll destroy me.' Kaiba thought.

Kaiba then thought about the device. As far as Kaiba was concerned, it held the key to his salvation....the key to save him from himself, before it was too late.


	3. Chapter 3

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 3.

The group was back home at the game shop, and Yugi was on the phone. "Really....today? That's great to hear. Well, thanks a lot!" Yugi got off the phone, and said, "Hey guys, Kaiba's out of the hospital!"

"He is?" Joey said, seeming to perk up.

"Yeah, now you can try and beat him up while he's not a cripple, anymore." Tristan said, sarcastically.

Joey snapped back, "Well, just cuz he was sick in the hospital, it don't mean he had to treat me that way!"

Since that day, Joey had been still pretending that the scene Mokuba caught them in was them breaking into a fight, and nothing more than that. The taste of that kiss still burned on Joey's lips, and he had to see him again. But he couldn't just barge over there. He had to find the right time....maybe when he was back home, at night. But would he even see him?

"Well Yugi, we gotta go." Tea said, pertaining to her and Tristan. "But, we'll seeya tomorrow."

"Okay, by guys!" Yugi said.

"You know, Yugi…I gotta go, too." Joey said.

Yugi went over to Joey, saying, "Wait a minute Joey, I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a minute?"

"All right...." Joey said.

----------------

They were in Yugi's bedroom, when Joey said, "So, what's up?"

"Well, actually….it was Yami who wanted to talk to you. Is that okay?" Yugi asked.

"Aww, man. Hold up Yugi, I....I'm not sure if I wanna talk to him, right now." Joey stammered.

"Why, Joey....I'm hurt." Yami said, already out.

"I'm sorry, it's just....I'm not really in a talkative mood, right now." Joey said.

Yami stated, "I was simply wondering what happened between you and Kaiba. After all, there seemed to be a fist fight going on."

"Yeah, well....you know how it is. We start insulting each other, den it's all over." Joey said.

Yami smiled, "Yes, you seemed pretty hostile. Yet you're eyes said otherwise...."

"They did?" He asked.

"Yes....as they are right now, too...." Yami stated, cocking on eyebrow.

Joey slumped his shoulders, and sat on Yugi's bed. "Awww, man. I can't keep anything from you. You're right, Yug. I been keeping this kind of a secret. That day when we were fighting....we weren't really fighting. Me and him, well....you were right. He did care, and he does care, and he aint saying it, but....we kissed. He didn't stop me either. He liked it, yet he's still trying to fight me on it. I gotta talk to him, but I don't know how to find him, or reach him. We'd have to talk alone about this, obviously. I just don't know how."

"Hmmm....did you try calling him?" Yami asked.

Joey looked sheepishly, "Well....no. He just got back. How could I?"

"Well then maybe you should try calling him." Yami said. "You never know, he might surprise you."


	4. Chapter 4

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 4.

Kaiba had returned to Kaiba, Corp....heading to his office, and passed his secretary, to find Mokuba in front of his door. He looked down at his brother, saying, "Any immediate business I have to take care of?"

"There's some rumors going around...." Mokuba stated.

Kaiba sighed, "Come in with me."

Inside, Kaiba sat down, and said, "All right....I'm going to make you totally in charge of damage control. Any rumors regarding what happened to me, I need them buried. I don't care about the kidnapping, you can say that's true. Anything else regarding me, tell them the entire time I was tied up at Charujin, and discovered by you, the police, Yugi....whoever. I'm sure if I really need to, I can call Yugi's little group, and ask them to confirm whatever story we go with. The police would be easy, since they have no clue what happened, and can easily be bought. I don't have to worry about Charujin saying anything....do not comment to the media about any of it, no matter what they ask."

"Then who do we say was the girl?" Mokuba asked.

"She claimed to be an employee of Charujin, and she mysteriously disappeared when she failed in taking our company." Kaiba replied.

"What about if someone questions about a, uh....relationship?" Mokuba asked, awkwardly.

Kaiba suddenly looked wide-eyed at him. "Did something like that come up?"

"No, but what if it does? You know how rumors can get out of control, sometimes...." Mokuba said.

Kaiba nodded, then answered, "Deny everything." Then turned to his computer.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked. "Why did you bring all that rubble over from Charujin, and what's with all the data they brought in?"

Kaiba activated his computer, checking on things, as he said, "As per the settlement, I took anything to do with the machine that was used on me."

"What are you going to do with it all?" Mokuba asked, worried.

With a pause, Kaiba answered, "I'm going to reconstruct it."

Mokuba suddenly clung to his brother, saying, "Please Seto....I don't want you to bring that thing back!" Surprising his big brother.

"Mokuba....calm down. There's nothing to worry about. Ms. Charujin is gone, you don't have to worry about her doing anything again. It's not the machine's fault, it was her fault." Kaiba explained.

"But why are you making the machine again, Seto? I....I don't want to lose you!" He said.

"How would you lose me?" Kaiba asked.

Mokuba looked up at him, stuttering, "Well....aren't you planning on using it on yourself?"

Kaiba stared at his brother. Such insight in this kid....how did he figure that out? "Why would you think that?"

"It's true isn't it. That's why you didn't say no. I don't want a sister!!" Mokuba cried.

"A sister??" Kaiba then smiled. "No, Mokuba....that's not how I plan on using it. Believe me, I'm more than happy with who I am, now. What gave you the crazy notion that I would want to go 'back' to that?"

"Uh....the tapes...." Mokuba blushed, knowing he should have never brought them up, and probably should have pretended they didn't exist. But he couldn't help it....he couldn't believe what he heard, when he heard Joey and then Seto talking, and saying those things.

Kaiba closed his eyes, dropping his head. He should have known this would come up, sometime. Kaiba stood, and walked over, locking his door, then sat back down, saying, "Obviously we need to talk."

"I'm sorry, Seto...." Mokuba said sadly.

"You don't need to be sorry. None of this is your fault." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm just not sure how to explain this."

"You don't have to...." Mokuba said.

Kaiba answered, "Yes....I do. Listen, when it....changed me, it changed me more than physically. It....it really messed me up. I did things that I normally would have never done. I'm ashamed of my behavior, but it wasn't my fault. Infact, the things it did to me is the reason it's here now. You see, I have a feeling that this machine might have made me....not quite complete. It's hard to explain, but I still don't quite feel myself, in a way. I want to re-create the machine, and go over exactly what it does and how. Once I can figure that out, I can find out if something was not reversed correctly....and fix the problem."

"So then, what is different?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked a little uncertain to talk to him about this. "It's....hard to explain. I'm not even sure I can think of the words to be able to describe it to you. It might simply be a residual after-effect, that will simply fade in time. But other than that, I'm not sure how else to tell you, then....it's just a feeling I have."

"Okay." Mokuba said.

Kaiba said, "So are you all right with that, now?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm glad to know I'm not losing my big brother." Mokuba said happily.

Kaiba smiled, "Well, that's good. Anything else I need to know about?"

"Oh yeah, Joey called for you." Mokuba said.


	5. Chapter 5

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 5.

The look on Kaiba's face made Mokuba worried all over again....the look was fear, which made no sense to him. "Seto?"

"Uh....J- Wheeler called?" He asked. "What did you say to him?"

"Oh, he got the secretary. She said she'd give you the message." Mokuba replied.

Kaiba exhaled. "Good, keep it that way. Tell the secretary to just keep taking them. If he asks why he didn't get a call-back, tell him I'm busy."

"Seto....is something wrong?" Mokuba asked.

"No." Kaiba turned, facing his computer again, and ended the subject. "I've got work to do, why don't you start on yours."

Mokuba sighed, "All right, but you know you can't keep him away forever." Mokuba then headed for the door, unlocked it, and finally left.

Kaiba shut his eyes, trying to keep those thoughts of him out, as he rubbed his fingers through the thick locks of his hair. "He's right....the more I avoid him, the more he'll keep bothering me. I've got to do something that'll keep him focused away from me, atleast until I can reverse the problem! But how....?"

Kaiba typed up various pictures of the last couple of Tournaments....those with pictures that had Joey in them or those he associated with. Kaiba suddenly stopped on one picture, and sneered. "Perfect."

He then made a call, saying, "Smith....I'm downloading you a picture of one of our past Duelist players. I want you to find out the phone numbers, address, where this person works, lives, and hangs out....and I want it on my desk in 1 hour."

"Yes, sir." The man answered.

-----------------

Mai had been sitting in a park, looking down at the pond. She sighed sadly, wishing she remembered more, and not having so many gaps in the memories of her life. And the things she did remember, she didn't want to. Being buried alive, helpless, with the foreboding face and laughter of Marik. She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. She looked around the area, trying to find something to change her mood, or atleast her attention away. To her surprise, she found a familiar face.

Mai stood, and walked over, waving to the man in a business suit, calmly eating lunch by himself, and reading a news paper. "Hey there, remember me? How ya doing?"

Kaiba looked over to see Mai approaching, and smiled, saying, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"So what are you doing here? A bit away from the office, aren't ya?" Mai asked.

Kaiba answered, "That's why I'm here....I'm on my lunch break. It's the best time to get away from everything."

"And here I thought you lived for business." Mai said.

"You'd be surprised." He smiled at her. "I have space on this bench if you want to have a seat. I promise I don't bite."

Mai laughed, and took a seat beside him. She then played with a strand of her hair nervously, saying, "Hey, listen....there's been this rumor going around. I was just curious if it's true. Hope I'm not offending you...."

"Not at all. Right now, there's been a lot of different rumors going on regarding me. That's what happens when you're face is in the public eye all the time. So, how about this….you tell me which rumor you're talking about, and I'll tell you if it's true, deal?" He asked.

"Okay." Mai replied. "Well....I heard you were kidnapped."

"That's true. It was by a corporation that was once a partnership with my step father, now wanting revenge on me." He said.

"Yeah, I get it. Well, here's the next one....and this one I admit sounds funny. The rumors are that you were changed into a woman." She chuckled.

Kaiba didn't even blink, as he smoothly answered, "Well, that one is obviously not true. Atleast....I hope not."

"Hahahah....who would have thought you had a sense of humor?" Mai laughed.

Kaiba shyly looked down, saying, "You say that, because you only see me during the tournaments."

"Oh, is that what it is....so that's your 'game face', huh? I'll have to keep that in mind." Mai replied.

Kaiba looked around, saying, "So, are you normally around here, or did we catch each other as a chance meeting?"

"Well, to be honest I started working at the salon over there." She said, pointed at the building barely a block away. "I do people's nails, and makeup, and hair....it pays well, and it's right in my line of work, too."

"So you're here all the time, then." Kaiba said.

"Yep. You can say I'm on my break, as well. Gee, speaking of which, what time is it?" Mai asked, and looked at her watch, before he could. "My break's over, I gotta get going."

"Are you working tomorrow?" He asked.

Mai looked at him, saying, "Yeah....why?"

"Well....maybe we can meet here again, for lunch." Kaiba suggested.

Mai smiled, saying, "Why not....I can use the company. Then I'll see you at noon. See around!"

As Mai walked away, Kaiba's care-free smile changed to a cold, calculating grin. "Oh, you will....you can bet on it."


	6. Chapter 6

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 6.

Kaiba stood and walked off, calling his limo back over, to take him back to work. As they drove back, he felt he might have just hit the perfect plan. He'd take it slow with her, and work it into a date. He'd then leak it out, so Yugi's friends could catch wind of it. Once it reached Joey, he'd become jealous, because he once had an interest in her. Joey would change his attention from him to Mai, and those two would eventually get back together…he'll make sure if it. They'd either get back together by themselves, or he might even cheat on her, to convince her to leave him for Joey. Then everyone would be happy. Joey would have Mai, Kaiba would have gotten some much needed time with the female sex for a change, and Joey would no longer be bothering him. Plus, it would give him the time to find the problem with the machine.

Kaiba was certain that the reason he was having these feelings about Joey was due to a glitch in the machine that chemically messed him up. He simply had to find the error and fix it, so he could be himself again, and stop thinking about that loser!

---------------------

It had been about a week now, and Kaiba's plans were working perfectly. Joey had continued to call, still getting no replies, and Kaiba had been meeting Mai everyday for lunch, finally asking her out on a date. Mai was reluctant, but accepted. He had learned by being around her that Mai's experiences during Battle City Tournament left her feeling more insecure about being alone. It was the reason she went out with him, he knew....which worked to his advantage. After all, Kaiba could careless what she felt about him. He wasn't doing this for her affections, after all.

Kaiba now had a nice late night date planned, but none of the messages from Joey indicated that he knew anything about it. He hoped that maybe Mai had been hanging around Yugi's group, but that didn't seem to be the case. He also decided he really didn't want to leak it to the public either, because it would cause too much press attention. But he still wanted to make sure they knew. So the question was....how to guarantee it?

---------------------

Yugi was at home, hanging out with the rest of the guys. Everyone seemed to be rather happy, except for Joey, who seemed really down in the dumps.

"Hey Joey, you've been really depressed lately....what's up?" Tristan asked.

Yugi knew, but avoided it. Joey looked over, saying, "What? Oh, nutt'n....just summer blues, I guess."

Tea said, "Why don't you play a game of Duel Monsters? That always cheers you up."

"Yeah, I guess you're r-...." Joey began, but froze as the phone rang.

Mr. Motou answered, the phone, saying, "Hello?" And instantly changed is tone. "What do you want?"

"Is it Kaiba? Is it Kaiba??" Joey asked, almost too anxiously, making the others look at him strangely, and Yugi blush.

"Uh....why would you want to hear from Kaiba so badly?" Duke asked, as the others agreed.

"What?" Joey asked, blushing. "Oh, uh....well, I saw a construction sight down the road with KC on it, and was wondering what they were building, is all...."

"Yeah, I've been really anxious to see what that is, too." Tea agreed, not thinking much on Joey's behavior.

"Yeah, me too!" Tristan said. At once, the others all said, "Is it Kaiba, is it Kaiba??"

"Of course Kaiba, I'll put Yugi on." Mr. Motou said, making sure to say the name so they knew, and handed the phone to Yugi.

"He wants to talk to me?" Yugi asked nervously, wondering why Kaiba didn't ask for Joey. "Uh....hello?"

"Hello, Yugi." Kaiba said with that same cold tone. "It's been awhile."

"Yeah, uh....you know, Joey here has been wanting to talk to you." Yugi added, as Joey anxiously hovered over him.

"I didn't call for him, Yugi. If I wanted to talk to the Mutt, don't you think I'd be asking for him, instead of you?" Kaiba snapped, annoyed.

"Oh." Yugi said, as Joey was constantly asking him what he said. "Well, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, since I haven't had the opportunity to challenge you in the tournament, I was hoping to get a chance with you, now....tonight at 6. Don't be late." Kaiba replied, making it more of a demand than a request.

"Kaiba, wait a minute! But I didn't win the last tournament....Joey did. Wouldn't you want to face him, instead?" Yugi asked.

"Face the Mutt in a duel? That's not even worth my time. Just because Joey won the tournament, it does not make him worthy of the title. You can't fool me, Yugi. You let your personal problems get in the way, and tripped up on the victory....either that, or you simply felt sorry for him, which I suppose I can't blame you on. Someone as pathetic as him, you can't really help but feel sorry for, I guess." Kaiba answered.

"What did he say??" Joey whispered.

Yugi stammered, "Uh....he called you pathetic."

"He did WHAT??" Joey snapped.

Kaiba smiled, listening to the background conversation on the phone. 'Thanks Yugi....I needed that.' "Are you talking to me, or that loser??" Kaiba snapped back at Yugi.

"Uh, yeah....I'm here. We'll make sure to be there." Yugi said.

"NO! Come alone, Yugi....I don't need the rest of your so-called friends trampling through my home." Kaiba snapped.

Yugi looked at the others, and hesitated, "Well, I...."

"What's wrong? Can't you handle playing a Duel game without your personal cheer-leading group?" Kaiba asked, taunting him.

"Fine....I'll be there." "Be where?" "Oh, uh....nowhere." "Wait, gimmee the phone." "Joey, wait!" "Gimmee the....Hey Kaiba!" Joey got on, pushing Yugi off for the moment.

Kaiba blushed, feeling a bit uncomfortable, as he rubbed the back of his neck. He had hoped to avoid talking to him. "I believe I was talking to Yugi, Mutt....get off the phone."

"Yeah, well listen....I just wanna a know a time we can meet. There's something I need to talk to you about...." Joey said.

"Who else is there, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked.

"Uh, well....the gang." Joey said.

Kaiba answered, "Precisely....put Yugi back on."

"Yeah, well I tried to call you, but you aint been returning my calls. I need to talk to you about this!"

"Yes, I noticed....you've been clogging up my phone lines with your useless messages. Get the hint, already." Kaiba replied coldly.

"And what's that suppose to mean? So, why haven't you answered any?" Joey asked. He wanted to say so much more to Kaiba, but with the others around listening to every word he said, he couldn't. He didn't want to embarrass Kaiba any, plus he even felt kind of awkward to say something in front of everyone else, himself.

"Listen....we've already talked, and personally I wasn't too keen on our last conversation. I have too many things to do, to waste my time worrying over whatever pathetic problems you're having, right now." Kaiba said.

Joey gave a subtle smile, saying, "Really....well, you seemed pretty keen about it, from my point of view."

Kaiba suddenly felt like the heat was rising in the room, as Joey's words reminded him of that kiss that day. He loosened his tie, and tried to say something, but no words came out. Besides, Kaiba wasn't sure what to say about that, worried he might slip up and say something that would give himself away.

Joey didn't get a response, hearing nothing but dead space, and was worried he was going to lose him. He quickly added, "Kaiba, all right listen....I'm sorry about what happened at the hospital. I know I shouldn't have blown up on you, and I shouldn't have picked a fight with you, and I apologize. Infact, that's one of the main reasons I want to see you. I want to say I'm sorry....and I really feel I should do it in person. So, can ya please stop insulting me, and give me a day and time, so I can get this over with?"

Joey could hear a sigh from Kaiba ex-haling. He finally muttered, "Tell Yugi he better be there, and no other visitors." Then hung up the phone.

Joey looked at the phone, and slammed the phone down, yelling, "Dammit!" Then suddenly, Joey glanced over nervously at the others that were staring at him strangely, and snapped, "What are you looking at? So, I felt bad about picking at fight at him at the hospital....you got a problem with that??"

"Nonono...." The others quickly said, and got back with doing other things.

Joey looked over at Yugi, saying, "Stupid Kaiba said you better make it to his majesty's house. Make sure to mention me....I'm outta here." Joey then left, having enough of dealing with Kaiba, for one day.

--------------------

Back at Kaiba's mansion, Kaiba leaned heavily on the phone, his arm trembled as it still clung to it. He so much had the urge to tell him the truth. But he couldn't, he had been working so hard to break himself of this supposed curse....he was not going to let Joey win. 'I have worked too hard to let it all get destroyed by this petty emotion. I wont let it happen....'

"Big brother?" Came an innocent voice from behind him. Kaiba whirled around in an almost panic, not expecting to have someone behind him. "Seto....are you okay?"

"Mokuba...." He smiled, and brought his hand out, saying, "Come here."

The smile on his brother's face couldn't help but bring a smile to Mokuba's as well, and he moved over to his brother hugging him, which seemed to be what Seto was looking for. Kaiba held his brother, feeling strength from his embrace. "Seto....I'm worried. You haven't been yourself, lately."

"I know I haven't. But don't worry....I will be." Kaiba said, standing from his chair. "Come on, kiddo....let's get out of here. We'll go out for awhile."

"You mean it?? All right!!" Mokuba's eyes just lit up, as Kaiba decided to take this time to spend just with his brother, something he hadn't done in awhile, and probably needed even more than Mokuba did.


	7. Chapter 7

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 7.

Night had fallen before long, and the doorbell rang. Kaiba's butler opened the door, letting in his guest, who seemed to have honored Kaiba's request and came alone without protest. The butler lead him to some kind of activity room, where there were various types of games offered....from a pool table, to a setup chess game, to a help yourself mini snack bar, some various video games, what looked like a mini virtual reality system, and some kind of mechanized contraption that looked kind of like a lamp with a metal disk-like item below it on the floor -- the rest of that area was totally clear of anything. Encased in a glass shelf not too far off were two duel disk systems.

'_Wow, this place is great! I don't think I remember this room before. I wonder when he arranged this place?'_ Yugi said to Yami.

"I don't know." Yami said, turning to confirm the butler did in fact leave. "I'm still wondering if Kaiba is on his way, or is simply sitting in another room watching us...."

'_Huh?'_ Yugi ask. To answer Yugi next question, Yami then looked up at the small camera that seemed to focus on most of the room. _'You think he's watching us, Spirit?'_

"Nice to see you made it." Kaiba said, walking in, before Yami could answer him. "I wasn't sure if you were going to chicken out, seeing as you didn't have your friends here to cheer you on."

Yami turned to face Kaiba, saying, "There is one particular friend that was quite anxious to come with me, and I'm not entirely sure who he'd be routing for, this time. I think you know who I mean."

"I couldn't care less who you mean." Kaiba answered without skipping a beat, as he approached the case. "I didn't call you over here to socialize, I came here to duel....and I wasn't in the mood for distractions."

"Distractions for me or for you, Kaiba?" Yami asked.

Kaiba hesitated a bit after hearing Yami's words, as he was opening the case. But he then continued to open the case, and pulled out both systems. Kaiba then walked back over to Yami, handing him the duel disk, saying, "You may notice it no longer has the electronic shooters on it that creates the virtual reality monsters. I've been working on a new way to bring that up, which you'll see in this duel." He then brought his hand forward to approach the empty area with the strange lamp.

Yami approached the area, saying, "You didn't answer my question, Kaiba."

"Your friend is living in a fantasy world, Yugi. He's going to have to learn to grow up and move on." Kaiba finally answered, placing his deck into the duel disk.

Yami did the same, and as soon as he did, the connection of the decks to the system activated the lamp to turn on, emitting what appeared to be a very faint ultra-violet light, while the bottom plate lit up to show simply violet lights on it, though it didn't seem to emit anything. "Instead of having wires shoot out to bring out the 3-dimensional holograms, it is now all controlled by wireless. I am connecting the technology of the prototype duel disk system with the systems you are used to playing with. They should be a hot item by next year's Tournament, once everything's worked out."

"I see...." Yami said, looking over the item. "So why don't you return Joey's phone calls? Is it because you simply feel it's not worth your time, or are you afraid to talk to him?"

"Are we here to duel, or whine about your friends all night?" Kaiba snapped, annoyed.

"Fine....let's duel!" Yami stated.

As they put their first monsters out, Yami was able to see the center device controlling the monsters. The nearly invisible light was barely seen projecting the monsters, as they were up for battle. It was quite a new interesting way of doing it. As they battled, Kaiba was confident that he could win out. As usual Kaiba took the lead, but somehow yet again, Yami had found a way to turn it around before it was too late. It was a very close, but by the end....Yami was the victor. And just to rub it in Kaiba's face, he lost to Yami who merely had 100 life points remaining.

Kaiba scowled, as he crossed his arms, looking ahead at the lack of monsters on the field and his 0 points remaining. "I'm afraid I won, Kaiba." Yami said to him. "It was a good game. I....hope you're not holding a grudge for losing, like last time."

Kaiba re-directed his glare to Yami, who was hiding his smile, but Kaiba could clearly see that smug look on his face. "Hmph....the only grudge I'm holding is the insult you left me with, when you let that loser beat you. There was no way he could have won, if you were playing your best. Admit it!"

"I....well, I was distracted that day, I admit." Yami said. "I was still getting over....what happened....at Kaiba Land." Yami answered, still feeling a bit awkward to talk about it.

Kaiba stared at Yami, watching his shift of movements, showing his discomfort. Yet Kaiba did not react the same. Instead he put on a smirk, letting out a "hmph", as he put down the duel disk, and headed towards the snack bar.

"I knew there was no way Wheeler could have won on his own." He said opening the fridge and pulling two pops out, one for Yami, who approached to take it. "I suppose if I was really desperate to beat you, I could have made a few simple comments to bring you back to memory lane, and watch you squirm just like you were a moment ago."

Yami paused at that, looking up at Kaiba. "What happened....doesn't seem to bother you so much, now." He noted, picking up his pop.

"I must hear the rumors of my kidnapping and possibly my temporary sex change atleast once a day at the office. If I didn't allow myself to become numb from it by now, it probably would have driven me insane. I'm not going to sit around belly-aching over something that was out of my control. When I realized what happened, I took care of it....there's nothing more I could have done. Now all I can do is try to fix the problems that resulted from it." Kaiba explained, sipping from his pop bottle.

"And what problems would you be referring to?" Yami asked.

Kaiba paused, looking at the details of his pop bottle, stating, "Minor details....nothing important."

"You know Kaiba, you seemed rather....obsessed about my beating you last time. I hope you have learned to curb that problem." Yami smiled.

Kaiba glanced back down at Yami, and smiled back, more coldly though. "I think I have. After all....I've already beaten you in a game."

"You ha--?" Yami began to ask, then realized what game Kaiba was talking about, and turned all red, choking from the sudden dryness of his throat.

Kaiba smiled, then couldn't take it and turned away, laughing. "I hope I'm taping this....that look on your face is priceless!"

Yami tried to contain himself, being embarrassed enough, as he stuttered out, "I....I just didn't think you'd ever mentioned that again. It wasn't a very proud moment for either of us."

"You know what you're problem is, Yugi....you care too much." Kaiba turned back towards him, smiling mischievously. "I took it as a conquest, while you took it as some kind of 'personal' moment."

Kaiba now approached Yami, causing the pharaoh to back away, looking fearful. But Kaiba stopped him, by snagging onto his studded collar with his finger, and pulled him closer, saying, "Even now, if I wanted to....I could do that to you again, and I guarantee you'd still crumble....no matter what I look like. And the reason is because you feel too much. You might beat me in Duel Monsters Yugi, but I'm the first who ever broke you."

He studied the fear and discomfort in Yami's eyes, intrigued that for the first time the pharaoh was quiet, without a reply. Kaiba added, "Don't worry, Yugi....I wouldn't do anything like that. Even though it might be tempting just to see that stupid look on your face, I wouldn't insult myself by doing it. Nice collar, by the way. Never noticed you had one before. Now I guess there's two of you with dog collars...."

Yami noticed the sudden change of attitude from Kaiba when he said that, though. Kaiba was obviously saying that to mock him, but it brought back thoughts on Joey again, making his eyes look almost sad, and he felt Kaiba's finger move ever so slightly underneath the collar, as if momentarily reminiscing on something. Kaiba released Yugi, and turned away to get his pop he left at the snack bar.

"I can see it in your eyes, Kaiba. You care a great deal for Joey. So, why don't you talk to him? You must know by now that you're not alone. He has suffered the same as you have." Yami stated.

Kaiba scowled, "Bullshit! Until he finds one of those machines and turns himself into a chick for 4 days straight, don't tell me about him knowing the misery I had to put up with."

Yet, quickly Kaiba's scowled changed to a sneer, as he added, "Besides....you're wrong about me, Yugi. Infact....I got a date tomorrow, with someone you and your friends are quite familiar with."

"A date?" Yami asked.

"Yes." Kaiba turned to face Yami, the evil grin still etched into his features. "For about a week, I've been seeing Mai Valentine. We've just reached a point in our relationship to start dating now, which begins tomorrow evening, at 7pm, at the Starlight House. I plan on it being a night to remember...."

"You're dating Mai? Why would you do that? You have feelings for Joey!" Yami said.

Kaiba scowled, "It's funny that for some reason both you and Joey are missing a very important point, that we are both guys. I don't know what your interests are, but mine tend to be towards the opposite sex. I am 'normal'!"

"So that's what it is...." Yami said, closing his eyes. "You allowed yourself to be so concerned about what's normal and what's not, that you have pushed away someone you truly care for. As long as you continue to worry about what matches you the best, you will never be happy, Kaiba. Is that what you want?"

Kaiba opened his mouth, about to retort....but he stopped himself, realizing Yami had almost gotten him flustered. If Kaiba did that, he would undoubtedly say something stupid, walking right into Yami's trap. So instead, Kaiba chilled, as he then smiled coldly, saying, "I am happy, Yugi. You're the one who keeps insisting that Joey means something to me. But, you're wrong. He is nothing to me but a worthless loser. I found what interests me, and that's Mai. I'm quite happy with her, and plan on continuing my relationship. And there's nothing you or Joey can do about it!" Kaiba stated. "I think it's time we say our good-bye's, Yugi. I'll just have to challenge you at the next tournament."

"I suppose so. I'll let myself out." Yami said, heading towards the door. "Oh btw, Kaiba....you called him Joey...." and walked out.

Kaiba turned away, scowling, as he whispered, "Damn." He couldn't believe he let that slip out.


	8. Chapter 8

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 8.

Today was a very busy day for Kaiba, making his date tonight with Mai all the more of a burden. Not far from Yugi's, they were constructing a water park. He ended up putting Mokuba in charge over there to oversee the project, while he stayed at work taking care of his own project.

He had been at work most of the time, as they began the re-construction on the device. His own personal scientists had been taking all this time to go over all the past models and prototypes, as well as all the old and new schematics of this mechanism. To make sure they could handle it, he also hired one of the best geneticists he could find that had absolutely no relation to Charujin Corp, to help make sure everything was put together correctly, as well as to make sure everything was read correctly.

Finally, they had their first test with the machine, placing a monkey into it. After the machine was activated, the monkey was turned into a charred ball of fur. Now they were going through it with a fine-tooth comb, to find out what they did wrong.

------------------

Yugi had returned home that night, to find his grandfather in bed, and his home empty. He was surprised to see how late it was....10pm. So Yugi got dressed, and went into bed.

"Psst....hey Yug." A voice whispered from his window.

Yugi looked over, and asked, "Joey? What are you doing here?"

"I wanna know what happened. What did he have to say? Did you ask him about me?" Joey asked.

Yugi sighed, "Kaiba claims that he has no interest in you, and urges you to move on."

"That's bullshit!" Joey snapped. "I can't believe he's still playing this 'I don't care' crap with me, after what happened at the hospital!"

"Joey....are you sure you didn't misunderstand anything at the hospital? I mean, he was in a hospital bed when you kissed him, right? He was still pretty weak to do much about it...." Yugi began to say.

"Listen Yug, Kaiba was pulling the same crap then as he was now, playing the 'I don't care and I don't wanna hear it' crap. But he wasn't that weak to push me off, or get away from me, and it wasn't one-sided, either. He was more than happy to give into it, when we kissed. He still wanted me, Yug....as much as I wanted him. He almost admitted it, until his brother came charging in. I didn't want to make it more awkward for him, so I played the game....you know. But now, it's even worst. I gotta see him Yugi, I gotta find a way to be with him. I just don't know where to reach him. He's always at his work place, or caged at his house. Now he's telling me he don't want me to call, either...."

"Well....there's one place he told me he'd be, but...." Yugi stammered, wondering if he shouldn't have said that.

"Where? Where??" Joey asked.

Yugi shook his head, "I don't think I should say it. Joey, it's a setup....Yami thinks he's baiting you."

But that only made Joey grin, saying, "He's trying to bait me? Then he wants like a secret meeting or something! Why didn't you say that?"

"Because he's dating someone!" Yugi said.

Joey just froze. "He's....dating?"

Yugi sighed, "Joey....he's dating Mai. It's going to be his first date with her. But he told Yami too much detail."

"What do ya mean?" Joey asked.

Yugi answered, "He told him it's tomorrow at 7pm, at the Starlight House."

"He's bringing her there? That's like one of the fanciest restaurants in this area." Joey said.

Yugi again pointed out to him, "But he gave too much detail on the time and place. Joey....I don't know why, but it almost seems like he wants you to make a scene. You really shouldn't go."

"Yeah, well....if I did go, which I wont, I wouldn't make a scene, anyway. Why would I?" Joey asked. "He can do what he wants....I don't care."

Yugi just rolled his eyes, knowing this was trouble.

-------------------

Kaiba left that night, resulting in picking Mai up late. He knocked, as Mai came to the door, looking at her watch, saying, "We're going to be late, you know. What took you so long? I hope we still have reservations...."

"They wouldn't cancel my reservation." Kaiba said, escorting her to his Porsche, and driving them to the restaurant. Kaiba played the complete gentleman, escorting her in. They got a seat at one of the best spots, and began their date. After ordering the wine and food, Mai noticed that Kaiba seemed a little occupied, his eyes drifting away from his table, seeming to glance around at different parts of the restaurant.

Mai said to him, "Hey, no offense....but I'm over here."

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. I was just hoping this place fit your needs." Kaiba replied.

Mai smiled, "Oh believe me, this place is just fine for me."

By this time, the waiter came to bring them the wine. As Kaiba glanced at the wine person, he found a familiar figure sitting at the bar, having a drink, and non-challantly shoving his face a little too far into a menu. Kaiba gave a smile, pleased to see the 'guest of honor' made it. He turned to the waiter, saying, "Thank you." Then turned to Mai, offering her glass and his, saying, "Here's a toast to our first date....may there be many more like this one." As they took their sip.

After sipping their wine, Kaiba changed positions at the table, so he could sit right next to her, and handed her a jewelry box, saying, "I got something for you."

"What? Oh, you didn't have to do that." Mai said.

Kaiba smiled, saying, "But I wanted to."

She opened it up, and said, "Oh, my god!"

"It's a simple necklace....I hope you like it." Kaiba said.

Mai asked, "Simple? That necklace must have been a small fortune! I....thank you."

Kaiba then brought his head close to her, whispering, "You wouldn't mind me asking for a kiss on our first date, would you?"

Mai smiled, saying, "I couldn't imagine saying no, at this moment." And kissed Kaiba on the lips.


	9. Chapter 9

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 9.

"That's it!!" Joey snapped, moving over to the table. "I am not going to sit here and watch this, you hear me??"

"Joey? What are you doing here??" Mai asked, in disbelief.

Kaiba shook his head, saying, "I happen to mention our date to Yugi in our duel, yesterday. I should have known that loser couldn't keep his mouth shut."

"Don't call him a loser, Kaiba....Yugi happens to be my best friend! And it doesn't matter how I know anyway, I'm not letting you two do this!" Joey snapped.

Mai stood, sticking her finger into Joey, saying, "Joseph Wheeler, you have some nerve coming in here and disrupting my date!"

"Listen, you two aint right for each other, and you both know that. I aint gonna just stand here and let this happen!" Joey said.

Mai snapped back, "And what makes you think you can come in here and tell me who to date, and who not to date? Okay, I don't remember exactly what we used to have together, but that doesn't give you the right to tell me who to be with!"

"Mai, you're gonna thank me later, cuz I'm doing you this favor. You shouldn't be dating this guy, he's all wrong for you!" Joey said.

Kaiba was doing all in his power to keep from smiling....this was perfect. The waiter then came over, saying, "Excuse me, you are upsetting the customers, sir. You are going to have to leave."

"No way! I aint leaving until one of them leave." Joey insisted.

Mai grumbled something, threw her napkin down, and said, "Fine, this date has been ruined, anyway. Kaiba....until you two get Joey's macho attitude problem taken care of so this doesn't come up again, I'm not going on another date. I'm taking a cab home."

"Wait a minute, you don't have to do that....we can have Wheeler thrown out of here!" Kaiba said, making it seemed like he was physically upset by it.

Mai called back, "Forget it. Fight over me elsewhere, but not while embarrassing me in front of this crowd." Mai said, trying not to smile, as she thought about the fact that she had two men fighting over her, one of them the richest man in Domino City. 'Well....life can't get much better than this.' "Taxi!" She called out, waving for a cab.

Kaiba threw money down for the wine, then joined Mai and helped her into the cab, saying, "I'm sorry Mai....I'll take care of it." She waved to him after he paid the taxi driver, and let the car drive off. Kaiba then turned to see Joey leaning against the outside of the restaurant, looking all pouty and upset. Kaiba sighed, saying, "Well, come on....I might as well take you home, now. I hope you're satisfied."

-------------------

They got into the Porsche, and Kaiba began driving Joey home. Joey said, "Okay....I'm sorry. I wasn't gonna come, but I couldn't help myself. I just couldn't bear to think of you two together like this! It aint right!"

"To be honest, I didn't realize you felt that way." Kaiba lied, as he continued to drive.

Joey looked over, saying, "You didn't? Is that why you did this whole setup, to find out?"

"Setup?" Kaiba asked, glancing towards Joey.

Joey smiled, "Yugi told me you set the thing up. I know I was being baited, but I still couldn't stay away. I didn't think you'd take it that far, though. I mean....when I saw you two kissing, I....couldn't stand it!"

Kaiba pulled the car over, and asked, "Is this your house?" Trying not to look horrified by the neighborhood.

Joey nodded, "Yeah, that's it. So....what are we gonna do about this? You two gonna stop?"

Kaiba paused looking at him, seeing the intensity in his eyes. 'He really has a thing for her, doesn't he?' He thought. Kaiba smiled, and nodded, saying, "I know when to bow down, Wheeler....if you really feel that strongly, then it wont happen again. But make sure not to let your friend get away a second time."

Joey smiled happily, saying, "I'll keep that in mind. And thanks, man....I knew you'd come through for me." He then brought his head over, kissing him on the lips, surprising Kaiba.

Kaiba pushed Joey back, surprised from Joey's actions, asking him, "What the hell was that for?"

"What?" Joey asked. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong? You're interested in Mai!" Kaiba paused, suddenly beginning to go through what happened tonight. "Well, aren't you?"

Joey looked at him, asking, "What are you talking about? Why would I...." Then it hit. "You thought I was jealous over Mai? No....you don't get it. I was jealous about you with her, not her with you!"

Kaiba's eyes widened, beginning to ask, "You're trying to tell me that whole scene was for....??"

Joey smiled and nodded. "Sorry, I kind of blew up, back there...."

Kaiba didn't expect that, as his plan instantly began to crumble around him. He had been expecting Joey to remember his times with Mai and try to get back with her....not this! "But....but you used to date her!"

They both froze, as Joey asked, "Wait a minute, how did you know that? Are you trying to tell me you were trying to make me jealous of her??"

"Well, why the hell else would you be there??" Kaiba exclaimed, frustrated.

At that, Joey just laughed. "You know, I thought we got this part all figured out at the hospital. Yeah, you were right....I once had a thing for Mai. But after being with you, she became a thing of the past. I don't care who she's dating, but I didn't like you being with her." He smiled, and once again brought his lips to Kaiba's.

Kaiba hesitated but pushed him away again, nervously looking around the neighborhood. Joey pulled on his shirt collar, saying, "Don't look at them outside, look at me. In this neighborhood, no one's gonna care. They're all homeless and drunks, anyway. Now, why ya doing this? I wanna know."

"J-....Wheeler, we...." Kaiba began, but Joey cut him off.

"Uh-uh....you were saying it right the first time. The name's Joey." Joey insisted.

He looked down at Joey, who's eyes looked sternly back up at him, and Kaiba slowly repeated with the correction, "Joey....I can't do this."

"And why not?" Joey asked.

Kaiba looked at him as if it should be obvious, as he spat out, "Because it's not normal."

"Normal? What, you too worried someone might look at you, or think about you wrong? You know, I never knew you, the great Seto Kaiba, being the type that's too scared to do what you want." Joey said.

Kaiba hesitated for only a moment, before the anger built up in him. An instant later, his fist connected with Joey, squarely in the jaw. "You're an idiot, you know that? Maybe you should try looking outside of your so-called world, for a change. I could careless what a few people think about me, but I'm not going to risk everything I've worked for, over some stupid fling that never should have been in the first place!"

"Ow...." Joey muttered, rubbing the side of his face, looking hurt. "Was that necessary?" He turned away, saying, "That's a load a shit. You're talking Kaiba Corp....you know how big that company is? No matter what they say about you, it aint gonna affect a thing That place is untouchable."

'Moron.' Kaiba thought. He could think up a few very popular faces even now who had thought themselves too big to be touched by anyone. They too made a few small mistakes, and had been crucified by the media because of it. But then, how could he expect someone as simple as Joey to understand. Besides, Kaiba was still convinced that the machine had made him feel this way, and it wasn't really how he would react, if that transformation never took place.

"I dunno if you noticed." Joey muttered, stretching his neck out a bit to show him the dog collar he had on him again, complete with the little tag that read 'Fido' on it.

Kaiba was actually quite shocked, assuming he threw it out as soon as he realized who Krysonna was. After all, when he saw him that time at Charujin, Joey wasn't wearing it. Not that he would have been looking, to notice or anything....

"You....you still have it." Kaiba said, as his delicate long fingers reached out to touch it, but stopped and hesitated, as the hand slightly trembled in mid-air.

Joey shrugged, "Yeah, well it's just a stupid dog collar anyway, right? It's nutt'n like that expensive necklace that you gave to Mai...."

Kaiba smiled, saying, "Yeah, but yours has sentimental value...." And gasped, putting his hand over his mouth, not believing he just said that to Joey.

"You mean that?" Joey asked, turning to look at Kaiba, who had just turned red after realizing what he had said.

Joey instantly considered what Kaiba had just implied. Even though Mai's gift was obviously far more expensive, the item Kaiba gave Joey was a gift from the heart. Just looking at Kaiba, he realized what he just accidentally blurted out was true. He slipped big on that comment, and knew there was no way of taking it back.

'He does care!' Joey smiled, now once again reassured, ignoring the bruise left on his face. With a mischievous smile, Joey leapt back over, practically landing on top of Kaiba, kissing him deeply.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Kaiba tried to weakly resist, unsuccessful, as Joey's touch filled him with lust. He drank Joey in, giving into his desires. Joey played with his tongue, as his body leaned more and more on Kaiba, until they were practically laying across the entire front seat, with Kaiba underneath. Ending the kiss, Joey's head now slipped down, licking and nibbling at his neck, muttering, "Mmm....you smell good."

Kaiba's hunger peaked, and for the first time since he'd been Krysonna, he tossed his caution to the wind. He grabbed Joey with renewed strength, flipping Joey over, now forcing him down which made Kaiba on top, as he hungrily devoured him with his mouth. This move surprised Joey, since he hadn't seen this side of him in awhile. Kaiba had been trying so hard to push him away, that he'd been looking almost....meek around Joey's attempts, atleast when he wasn't being the cold-hearted bastard he tried so hard to be.

It was a few long minutes before Kaiba finally came up for air, gasping, "You just don't know when to let up, do you?" He snapped.

"Ahh....stop being such a baby. Everyone's gotta lose once in awhile." Joey said, grabbing Kaiba's silk collar, and dragging him back into another embrace.

'Lose?' Kaiba thought, trying to think about what Joey just meant by that. He then realized that this could be compared quite closely with him and Yugi's little 'personal match'.

Here he was just yesterday taunting Yugi that the reason the 'King of Games' could lose over and over again if Kaiba tried, was because he was too emotional. Now Kaiba was on the same receiving end of that passion, unable to pry his heart from Joey, because he began to feel too strongly towards him.

Was Joey just playing him all this time, as Kaiba had been that day with Yugi? After all, Joey never could beat him in a duel....perhaps Joey too was obsessing. But Kaiba was too overwhelmed from his own emotions by this time anyway, to be able to break away and bother to ask about it.

At this moment, even if Joey was using him, he wouldn't care....it felt too good for him to worry about it. He continued to make out with Joey, his whole body rubbing against him now, as he breathed into Joey's ear, "I want you." Even though he had no idea how to actually 'take him', per-say....under the circumstances.

Joey hadn't felt this complete in awhile, feeling like a part of his soul had been lacking since Kaiba's avoidance with him. He joined him in the body movement, rubbing himself against him, as Kaiba had begun to do. Joey gave a slight giggle, saying, "You know....this car's a little small. Maybe we should go to your place...." As he rubbed his head against his and nibbled his ear.

Suddenly, there was a strange rapping sound on the window, causing Kaiba to jerk up. All at once, all the blood sank down to his feet as Kaiba realized in horror he was staring through the window at a police officer, who was making the gesture the roll down the window, while holding a flash light. And his whole life flashed before his eyes, as he realized how reckless he had been by giving into his hunger.

Joey saw Kaiba's face, and realized it was trouble. Deciding to deal with this himself, he pushed Kaiba over to the passenger side, and sat up, fumbling the keys on a click so he could roll down the electric window. "Uh....is der a problem, officer?"

"Yes, can I see your license and registration?" The officer asked, flashing his flashlight at Joey, then at Kaiba, who had by this time buried his face in his hand, not seeing any way that Joey or himself could possibly get them out of this. Even if the police didn't think of something to arrest them for, as soon as he realized who he was, the media would be all over him by tomorrow.

"Yeah, sure....here's my license. Not sure where the registration is, though." Joey stated, as Kaiba glanced over at him, wondering what he was up to. Atleast Kaiba was not wearing his obvious white trench coat that had the KC symbol on it.

"Who's the owner of this car?" The police asked Joey.

Before Kaiba was able to answer though, Joey said, "That's my pop, upstairs." He said, thumbing up at the apartment homes. "He came to visit with my Mom. He's a little behind on the child support....you know how it is."

"And who are you?" The officer asked Kaiba.

Joey again answered before Kaiba could, saying, "That's my friend Yugi. We're just hanging out, waiting for my old man to come back. Is there a problem, officer?"

The officer finally seemed to back off, accepting the excuse Joey made, saying, "You should tell your father this isn't the safest place for having this type of vehicle. If he wants it kept in one piece, I suggest he gets it out of here soon. There's been a lot of car theft in the area, lately."

"Yeah, well that's why he wanted us to wait in the car. I'll make sure to tell him, though." Joey said calmly, as the police officer walked away, got in his car, and drove off.

Kaiba finally exhaled....probably the first time he breathed, since the police showed up. He couldn't believe Joey just pulled that off. He glanced over at Joey, who was sitting there all smug, looking at him, and asked, "So, I'm Yugi, now??" The hint of amusement shown on his face.

"Hey, you said you didn't want to make any kind of public display, so I thought I'd keep ya honest." Joey then laughed, saying, "Man, you had to see the look on your face....if you were any more scared, you would have peed yourself."

Kaiba grabbed him, wanting to make the Mutt pay for such a comment....yet he knew in a sense Joey probably did help him out, there. Joey might not be well-educated, but there was one thing he learned about him today, Joey had street smarts....plenty of it. Kaiba tossed him back down in the seat, and leaned against his own seat, allowing himself to calm down.

Joey looked over, saying, "That cop wasn't looking to bust us, anyway. He saw yer fancy car and thought it might be stolen is all." Hoping it would help Kaiba to relax a bit.

But Joey finally realized perhaps Kaiba's concern was more justified that he originally thought. If this was a worst-case scenario, the police could have probably arrested them for something stupid like 'disturbing the peace', because they were making out in the car. And that probably would have hurt Kaiba really bad, once the news grabbed that and showed the world he was arrested for making out with another guy, after the whole incident of being changed into a woman.

He looked over and said, "All right, listen....maybe you're right about this. So then, why don't we give it some time to blow over. I'll leave ya alone, and pretend you don't exist, and let's say....you call me over at Yugi's in about a month. If everything's cool, we can arrange something. If you're still getting heat, we'll wait another month. Is that cool?"

Kaiba let that click through his mind, and nodded, "All right." And glanced over at him.

Joey now looked around, making sure the police was gone, then started crawling back over to the passenger side, where Kaiba was sitting, saying, "Well, I guess I probably better get going now."

"There 'is' a door on your side, Mutt." Kaiba snapped.

Joey smiled, saying, "Yeah, but this is more fun." And lunged on top of him. "What....don't I get a kiss goodbye?"

"I think I had enough excitement for one day." Kaiba muttered, before Joey kissed him, anyway. Kaiba accepted it though, and drank in the kiss, knowing it would be atleast awhile before he felt Joey touch him like that again....if ever.

Joey got out, saying, "Hey, be seeing ya, Kaiba." And headed to the apartment house, seeming happier than he'd been with himself in a long while.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

Krysonna had been making love to Joey 2 weeks ago, and just laid in bed that morning, with the sun beating through. She couldn't think of anything else but him, after making love to him that day. As she thought of him, her fingers reached between her legs and began to play with herself. But suddenly, her feminine part disappeared, being replaced with a male member. She looked down and screamed, sitting up.

Kaiba yelled out loud, as he jumped up in a sitting position on his bed....it was just a nightmare. Four days....it was for only four short days that he was in that form, and still he had nightmares of being a woman. But on the bright side, Joey gave him a month to try and reverse the effect it was still giving him. Plus, he agreed Yugi's store was the best place to call for him, if he needed to. That way, if anyone tried to check his phone records for any reason, it would look more like he called about Duel Monster cards, and not for any particular individual. And if he called, Kaiba expected it would probably be to delay it another month.

He got himself ready, and went back to work, focusing his attention on business. He had gotten an update from Mokuba on how the work on the water park was going, and Kaiba had also been yelling at the workers who now ended up killing a dog with the device he was trying to perfect. He had to be careful now to make sure the animal lovers didn't get wind of this, and start going down his throat next. This device was top secret, and only a select few of his workers were allowed access to this project.

Finally noon came, when his secretary alerted him, "Sir....your girlfriend is on line 1."

He forgot all about Mai. He was tempted to simply blow her off, since his plan with Joey was obviously a complete failure, but he decided perhaps it would be better to keep her. It could help keep the media off of him, if they saw him hanging around an attractive woman, such as Mai. So Kaiba picked up, saying, "Mai....it's good to hear from you."

"Hi Seto....listen, it's almost noon, and I wanna know what you and Joey worked out?" She asked.

He never even thought to ask him. If they started dating more and Joey heard, he'd undoubtedly show up again. He was going to have to call him later to deal with the matter. "I talked with him....he told me he'd back off."

"Really? How'd you manage that? Joey's not the type to be bought, after all." Mai said.

Did Kaiba detect a compliment from Mai about Joey? Did she still have an interest in him? Suddenly Kaiba was the one that was hit with a twinge of jealousy. He shook it off, saying, "I explained that you don't remember him anymore, which he already knew about. I convinced him he was simply being a burden to you, and he told me he wouldn't do it again." He was tempted to say to her that he had no interest in her, to keep her away from him. But then how would he explain the outburst last night, that Joey wasn't jealous of Mai, because the Mutt wanted a piece of him? That would certainly not sound good.

"Okay....well, as long as it's settled. So, you wanna meet for lunch again?" Mai asked.

Not again. "I can't. I'm in the middle of constructing a water park, and a complication just came up. But maybe we can try for dinner again, like maybe tomorrow?"

"All right....that sounds good. Gimmee a call on it. By the way, I've been wearing your necklace today. I totally love it....I can't believe you bought that for me." She smiled, hoping to get some more gifts from him soon. "Infact, I've been wanting to get this fur coat at McArther's that's absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I can show it to you, sometime...."

"Sure." He said, practically hearing the sucking sound from his bank account, that Mai was going to start creating on him. "I'll call you later." He didn't want to see her tomorrow either, but he could arrange a press shot that way, and start to finally make proper use her, like he felt he should. After all, if he was paying her with jewelry and gifts, he might as well get his money's worth.

----------------

It was a couple days later, when Joey came over to Yugi's house, to talk to him. "Hey Yugi." He said to his friend.

"Joey, I haven't seen you around. How are you doing?" Yugi asked.

Joey nodded, "I'm doing okay." Coming into Yugi's bedroom from the game store.

"So, what happened that night, when you went to see Kaiba? What did he have planned?" Yugi asked. Even though Joey said he wouldn't go, Yugi knew he would.

Joey didn't even argue, as he explained, "The guy thought I'd get jealous that Mai was hanging with him, and try to get Mai back fer myself."

"Gee....I didn't even think of that. How did it affect you seeing Mai again?" Yugi asked.

Joey smiled, "Well, you know....I had a thing for her before, but it's in the past now. She moved on, I moved on. It's not the same I feel for him." Joey then laughed, "You know....Kaiba does have a point, there. Just saying that sounds weird. I mean, hey....I never took myself for wanting some dude, you know?"

"So, I guess once he realized you weren't taking the bait, he was disappointed....huh?" Yugi asked.

Joey smiled, "Well, I kind of made of a scene at the restaurant, and I made sure not to say who I was fighting over, cuz....well, I didn't want Kaiba getting all embarrassed in public and all. So he didn't realize it didn't work, until he drove me back home, and we started talking. Then, you know....he gave me the same bullshit about being afraid of people seeing him and such. But I calmed him down."

"You calmed him down? Well, how did you...." Yugi suddenly blushed, realizing. "Oh. So then you two are....??" Yugi asked, seeming actually confused about something.

"Not exactly." Joey said. "While I finally got him warmed up to me and stop worrying over everything, a cop noticed the fancy rich car in my neighborhood. Well, thinking it's stolen, he came over checking us out. It was actually kind of a funny sight....I got Kaiba here practically trembling next to me, while I give the cop some story about it being my Dad's car, so he don't get in trouble none. But after the police left, I realized maybe he got something there. I didn't want me being around him hurting him none, so I told him we can just lay low for a month, wait for this whole gossip thing to blow over, and he can give me a call then."

"Oh. So until then, he'll still be dating Mai?" Yugi said.

Joey said, "No....why would he still be dating Mai? He only did it to get me jealous...."

"Well....it was in the paper today, showing him with Mai at the opening of some new restaurant." Yugi said.

"What? Lemme see dat!" Joey spat out. Sure enough, Kaiba was in the news paper with Mai, showing him putting some very expensive coat on her, which was way too much for her to afford, herself.

"That double-crossing jerk! I'm nice enough to push things aside from him, and he's cheating on me!!" Joey spat out. "Well, I'm gonna talk to him, right now!"

"Joey, wait!" Yugi said, jumping in front of him. "Remember, you two agreed about not seeing each other. I don't think that would make him feel too well, if you made a scene at his house....with Mokuba there!"

"Do you think I care right about now? I graciously step aside, and he pulls this crap with me! I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!" Joey spat.

Yugi urged, "Well, why don't we atleast try and call him....I have his home number."

"You do? Well, when I tried to get a hold of him before, why didn't you give it to me?" Joey asked.

Yugi said, "Because if you left a message on his business phone, he'd know you were trying to get a hold of him, and call back. If he didn't call you back from there, he wasn't going to call you back after calling home, either. And I didn't think Mokuba would feel too good about you calling over there, especially after last time when he thought you tried to attack him at the hospital."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Joey said. "All right, I'll try and call him at home."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

Kaiba was sitting in his office at home, with Mokuba on his lap. Together, they were making ideas where to put various water rides, and the design of them. "Oh, I know....in the walking area here, why don't we put these hanging showers, and sprinklers around, too!"

"Mokuba, they have water everywhere in this park. Why bother doing that? They have shower areas...." Kaiba said.

"I know, but it's fun running into sprinklers and stuff. I figured for kids, it would be great running through those, while they're heading to the next ride!" Mokuba said.

Kaiba sighed, saying, "All right....we'll throw in some sprinklers." At that moment, the phone rang. Mokuba was going to reach for it, but he said, "I got it....it's probably Mai. Kaiba." He answered.

"Hey Kaiba! I saw yer face in the newspaper today with Mai....care to explain this to me?" Joey was practically yelling on the phone to him.

"Seto....who is it?" Mokuba asked.

"Hold on." Kaiba said calmly in the phone, putting his hand on the mouth piece. He looked down, saying to his brother, "One of the stock-holders. Why don't you go in the other room for a bit....this is going to take awhile."

"Well....okay." Mokuba said, getting off his lap, and heading out of his office.

Kaiba followed, closing and locking the door, saying, "I was going to call you about this matter. I didn't get a chance to."

"Yeah, sure you were....just like the last time. I didn't plan on staying away so you can have some play time with your new arm-candy, Kaiba!" Joey spat back.

Kaiba stated, "I planned on breaking it off, but I decided maybe it would look good for public image."

"You and you're image crap! You know I didn't stand for it when you threw that in my face before. What made you think I was gonna go for it this time??" Joey asked.

Kaiba snarled back, "I thought the point was already made that I'm not interested in her! What do you care if I use some blond bimbo or not? It's not like she means anything to me! I'll toss her away, when she served her purpose. Besides, one or two more pictures like that, and we can probably start seeing each other a couple weeks earlier. It's not like I'm sleeping with her...."

"Huh....I wouldn't be surprised if you did, you already slept with my best friend, once." Joey pouted, causing Yugi to blush.

Kaiba growled, "Don't bring that up again. I was not in the right state of mind then, and you know it."

"Oh yeah, you were too girlie to be honest with me. Gimme a break!" Joey snapped.

"Fine, next time you can be thrown in the machine, and see how you deal with it!" Kaiba snapped back.

Joey relied, "Fine, you find me another machine, and I'll show ya how ta handle it....it would probably be a hell of a lot better than you did! And stay away from Mai!!"

Kaiba slammed the phone down. He didn't need this....why couldn't he get it in his head that he wasn't interested in her?

------------------

There was a click on the other side of the line, as Joey snapped, "Don't you hang up on me!!" And started slamming Yugi's receiver against the phone, over and over again.

"Joey, Joey, don't do that!!" Yugi exclaimed.

Joey stood for a minute, saying, "Fine....he wants to play that way, so can I." And stormed out the door.

"But Joey!" Yugi said....but too late, he was gone.. "He's going to get them both in trouble...." Yugi muttered to Yami.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

It was around lunch time, and Mai sat down to eat alone at the park. She sighed, kind of missing having Kaiba's company there with her. He hadn't been able to go to lunch with her lately, since he'd explained to her how busy his work had picked up.

"Hey Mai....how's it going?"

She turned towards the voice, and found Joey not far from her leaning against a tree. "How long have you been there?" She asked.

Joey answered, "Actually....quite a while. I can't believe how long it takes for you to get a break at that place."

Mai shook her head, saying, "You know....I should have known when Kaiba said you'd stay away, that you wouldn't actually listen to him."

"He never told me to stay away! The guy's a lying creep!" Joey snapped, getting pissed off.

Mai sighed, "Listen Joey, I'm really sorry you feel this way. But what do you want from me? Kaiba asked me out, I said yes, I don't plan on breaking up with him, and he just got me the most gorgeous fur a couple days ago....!"

Joey calmed down, saying, "Listen Mai, I'm sorry I yelled....I didn't come here for that. I came because I feel we're friends, and I care about you, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"Awww, well that's real sweet of you Joseph, but I'm a big girl....I can take care of myself." She smiled, talking down to Joey like he was a child, something Mai had a tendency of doing.

Joey said, "You don't get it! Kaiba's just using you....he's on some 'public image', kick. He don't want no one knowing the truth about him. Well....him and me...."

"What??" Mai looked at Joey, she then laughed so hard, she fell out of her seat.

"Hey, I'm serious here...." Joey said.

But Mai continued to laugh, saying, "Oh Joey, I know you're jealous....but that one just takes the cake! Listen kiddo....if it makes you feel any better, I'm using him too, okay?"

"You're....you're WHAT??" Joey said.

"Come on, did you honestly think I'd have a thing for him? Look, I've been lonely lately, and he came along and I thought....why not? Besides that, I've been getting showered with expensive gifts that I'd never dream of buying for myself. We both have an understanding with each other, okay? He'll use me, I'll use him, we'll break it off when we're done. No big deal." Mai said.

Joey couldn't believe it. He came here because he was worried about Mai being hurt, but she was using Kaiba! Somehow, that made Joey even angrier. "Well, what you're doing aint right, Mai! And I aint gonna put up with it, you hear? You stay away from Kaiba, or you're gonna hear from me again!" Joey spat at her, and stormed off.

Mai just sat there on the ground, speechless. It sounded like Joey actually 'was' jealous about her with Kaiba, for a moment there. She blinked, "Joey got a thing for....Kaiba?? No....way...."

------------------

Back at Kaiba Corp, the next experiment took place, this time with a tom cat. As the machine turned off, they opened up the containment device, to see the cat, laying there....in one piece. The only difference was that it's hair had grown all over it's body. The scientists cautiously approached closer, as if worried the thing was going to explode. Kaiba snapped, "Well, is it alive this time??"

One checked it, "Yes!" He said excitedly. "And it just opened it's eyes!" He checked the feline out, then picked it up, saying, "And it's a girl!!" The scientists applauded, since when the cat was originally put into the machine, it started as a male.

Kaiba breathed easy, he finally got them to duplicate the device he was in. "All right, I want that animal completely tested in and out, to make sure there was no internal damage to it."

One of the scientists approached, saying, "Before we can ever claim this experiment to be a total success, we'll have to eventually test a human."

"I understand that. And once that gets worked out, I'm plan on starting the next set of tests." Kaiba answered.

"What tests would that be?" The scientist asked.

Kaiba looked down at him, answering, "How it affects a human being on an emotional level."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

Kaiba had returned to his office after they had checked the cat out, and besides the normal mal-nutrition due to the hair growth, it seemed to be perfectly and physically fine. Tonight, they had planned on having a volunteer from the science group to be tested. He was promised a hundred thousand dollars, and full insurance coverage for him and his family for the rest of his life, incase of serious injury or death. The only thing he had to do was be changed, rest for the night at the office and be changed back by morning. They would test him out, he would probably have to stay at their private medical facility inside of Kaiba Corp for a few days, and that would be it.

The reason being was because every time this machine was used on a person, it seemed to put a greater strain on their physical being. That was why the first time Kaiba was affected, he was merely weakened by the machine....then the second time, he became hospitalized. Then again, that was their theory. There were other things thrown in with Kaiba's condition after all, like after the first time Kaiba was put into this machine, they couldn't guarantee that Charujin did anything to help him make up for the loss of nutrients in his system. If he was already lacking when he went in again, that may have caused the greater strain. They would find that out soon enough.

At that moment, the secretary paged him, saying, "Sir, Mai Valentine is on line 2."

"Again?" He said to himself out loud. He was still thinking of that fight he had with Joey last night. It actually made him feel bad, and considered breaking it off with her. But he shook his head, saying, "If he can't understand....fuck him." Kaiba picked up, saying, "Hello, Mai....Mai?"

Mai was laughing on the phone in hysterics, saying, "Seto....you're not going to believe this!"

"He said what? He did what??" Kaiba asked, feeling rather uncomfortable, as he heard Joey's reactions towards Mai, when he approached her.

"Yeah, can you believe it? He said that you....and him...." Mai couldn't finish, and began laughing again.

"He must be pretty desperate." Kaiba answered her, covering.

Mai said, "I know, that's what I said. But, it was the cutest thing....he was trying so hard to prove he was telling the truth, he started pretending to get all protective about you, like you're his boyfriend or something! Is that the most hilarious thing you ever heard....??"

"Hilarious." Kaiba said, finding no humor in it at all. "I'll remind myself to send someone to have him committed later. I'm really busy over here Mai, so I'll call you back." Kaiba got off the phone, and rubbed his head from the tension.

Joey knew this would certainly not help him, at all. But if he broke it off with her now, it would make even Mai suspicious. "You idiot!" He said out loud.

This was not working. He had expected after the agreement with Joey, to get atleast a good month away from him, to see if he could fix the problem he had been having. Now it seemed like the problem with Joey was even worst than before.

'Did the Mutt realize what this incriminating gossip could do to me....did he care?' Kaiba thought. He was going to have to try and figure out a solution to this soon, but at the moment, he had no answers.

---------------------

It was night time. Since Kaiba had not come up with an answer, he simply decided to sleep on it. That night, he had another dream....a very sensual dream of himself and Joey together, doing things he'd been wanting to do and had been keeping pent-up in him for awhile now, and unable to do because of his resistance. He woke up with a start, crying out Joey's name....and making a mess in his bed. Cursing to himself, he cleaned himself up, putting on a new pair of pajamas, and tried to go back to bed. Yet, his thoughts on Joey would not stop haunting him.

Finally, very early in the morning, he gave up and got showered and cleaned up, leaving for work....never noticing Mokuba's door a crack open, as the younger Kaiba watched his brother leave, after being woken up last night from Kaiba yelling out Joey's name. Mokuba wasn't exactly sure what to think, after that.

---------------------

The next day came before anyone knew it, and Kaiba was back at work early. The volunteer was now going back into the machine, after having a nutrient drip stuck to him all night, and he was ready to go. They once again started it up, and returned the scientist to the way he originally was.

They asked him questions, making sure he was all right. The man was indeed quite weak, but he could still stand....which was more than Kaiba could do, that day. Then again, he also forgot to throw another equation in to that time. That day, Kaiba was also practically in range of a helicopter explosion, that went off with such ferocity, it knocked the entire machine over. To this day, he still didn't understand how his face wasn't charred from the blast....but he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He came out relatively unscathed, and was grateful.

"Sir....he's all right. He's in fact more than all right. He might even be able to work today." The scientist stated.

"Good. That means the next step is here. I want this thing tested on an emotional level. Maybe Charujin didn't care, but I want to know how it effects the person it changes, and in what way." Kaiba stated.

"Well....to do that, we would need someone to actually be changed for a longer period of time. I don't think there's anyone here willing to do that!" The scientist explained.

Kaiba nodded, "I know...." Looking equally troubled at that.

He realized, he may actually have to put the project on hold, until he figured out how to go about doing this. Trying to find someone they could experiment on for a long period of time, who wouldn't tell this to the media later, and wouldn't incriminate him, or his company was not going to be an easy find. At the moment, his answer to this was as clueless as how to deal with Joey.

Kaiba's normal answer would be to volunteer himself. After all, it saved in liability, and he usually felt he was responsible for his own inventions. But this time, he just couldn't....he couldn't put himself through that again. And what frightened him the most was that it wasn't that he was afraid of the machine, it was that deep inside he was almost too anxious to want to use it on himself again. To do what he had done with Joey as a woman....he had to use all self-control and remind him of his past talk with Mokuba to not jump at the idea. Besides, if he did that and it leaked out, once again he'd be having the media all over him, which he was trying to avoid.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15.

The next few nights afterwards, Kaiba's dreams of Joey were now beginning to become a habit in the morning, as if he was unconsciously trying to get himself to go back to Joey and get his 'fix'. And this particular morning, Kaiba felt the worst heartbreak, as realization hit him....he couldn't do this anymore.

He was certain what he was feeling was unnatural, and yet like a fool he let Joey slip even deeper into his heart. 'No....I am Seto Kaiba. I will NOT let him beat me in this game, not when I am so close! That's not going to happen. I can't stop running away from him, like I've been doing. I've got to face this, and end it now.'

It hurt....it really hurt for this realization to hit him, but he felt he had no choice. Joey was backing him into a corner, forcing him to keep Mai, because of what Joey said to her, and yet Joey was trying to push him the other way, which would probably put Kaiba into greater problems. He had enough. He was going to push back these false girlish feelings that invaded his mind, and be the cold-hearted person he was accustomed to being....even if he had to hurt himself in the process.

----------------------

Yugi got a call at the game shop later that afternoon. "Hello? Oh, Kaiba...." Yugi said, as the gang looked over.

"Ask him what that place is he's building down the road!" Tea whispered.

Yugi looked over, and said, "Joey, he wants to talk to you." Surprising the others, especially Joey. After all, this wasn't the time to call. 'Kaiba should know the gang's here. Why is he calling now?' Joey thought.

"Hey Kaiba, what's up?" Joey asked him.

Kaiba said in a very calm tone, "Joey....I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

"Naw....nothing like that. I'm just hanging out here with the rest of the gang." Joey made sure to add, so he would understand.

"Is that so?" Kaiba asked. "Well, I need you to come over here to my house....now. I plan to prove to Yugi that you're as lousy at playing Duel Monsters, as I knew you were....and I also expect you come alone."

"What? What's that supposed to mean? Maybe, Mr. 'I'm better than everyone else' you forgot that I ended up first place in the last tournament. Whaddya think of that!" Then before Kaiba could say another word, he simply threw in, "Oh yeah, well I'll be there!!" And slammed the phone down, making himself look over-dramatic in front of his friends. But the phone-slamming he did on purpose to get even.

"What did he want?" Yugi asked.

"He said I don't deserve that title I got, and planned on proving it to me. I'm going over there right now, and kicking that smirk off Kaiba's face!" Joey said, beginning to storm out.

"We'll come with you!" Tristan said.

Joey turned, saying, "Naw....I'm afraid you can't. Like Yugi, he says I gotta do this on my own. I'm sorry, Tristan."

"Well don't worry Joey, we're here for you. Remember, even when we're not there to cheer you on, we're still there in spirit. Don't let Kaiba rattle you, like that." Tristan said.

"Good luck, Joey!" Tea added.

-----------------

Joey went to the door of Kaiba's mansion, where his butler answered the door and led him to the game room. Joey immediately took a liking to this place, as he quickly checked out the game stuff, then noticed the snack bar. Kaiba entered and closed the door silently to see Joey shoving his face, stopping in mid-chew, as Kaiba's crossed his arms, stating, "Make yourself at home...." Dripping with sarcasm.

"Showwy." Joey said, with his mouth full. He paused and swallowed, nearly choking on it, then downed a coke and said. "I couldn't resist....you've got great stuff! Besides....I didn't eat yet."

Momentarily taken off-guard, Kaiba smiled in amusement, as he shook his head and approached the dueling area, asking, "So....are you ready to duel?"

"What??" Joey asked. "You mean you were serious about that? I thought you were only kidding...."

"I don't kid." Kaiba stated coldly, sobering quickly, as he approached the duel disks, taking them both out, and added, "Though I can understand your confusion. After all, challenging you is hardly worth my time."

"We could play another game...." Joey teased, as he reached for the other device from Kaiba.

Kaiba slammed the device into his chest, saying coldly, "Play the game."

"What's up? You seem pissed about something." Joey said, moving to the other side of the field.

"You want to talk? Fine....we'll talk, but only after we duel." Kaiba said, putting his deck in.

Joey shrugged, saying, "Suit yourself....but I warn ya, I'm gonna kick your butt, this time."

They played their game of duel monsters. Though it didn't show, Kaiba was fighting his own inner battle against his feelings towards Joey, as he began his strategy. Joey had his own strategy going on, as well....but it was mostly to counter Kaiba. At the same time, Joey also couldn't stop thinking about Kaiba, and why he was acting so distant again.

As it turned out in the end, It was a lot closer game then Kaiba would have liked. It began with him dominating the game, as he usually did. But Joey suddenly sent out his Jinzo that screwed Kaiba's whole strategy up. He had to scramble fast to regain control in time, and as it was....he almost lost. One turn difference could have made the game for Joey.

"Well....I guess you won." Joey said, noticing Kaiba didn't look pleased. "What? You won....didn't you?"

"I should have done better than that." Kaiba complained. He unconsciously cursed himself, knowing full well that Joey had his Jinzo in that deck, and still didn't prepare for it. He had once mocked Yugi for blowing the tournament because he was emotionally weak, and ended up almost blowing it himself for just about the same reasons. Kaiba put the duel disk away, taking the other from Joey, and doing the same.

"So....you gonna tell me the real reason I'm here? Were ya maybe just looking for a reason for a rondevue?" Joey asked.

"I heard your meeting with Mai." Kaiba muttered.

Joey swallowed hard. "Uh-oh." Never realizing what the problem was....until now.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry!" Joey said. "I know I shouldn't have approached her. But it pissed me off to know you were doing this, and it pissed me off to hear you were using one of my friends, like that!"

"So you decided to tell her that we're a couple!!" Kaiba yelled, his anger presently getting the better of him.

Joey looked ashamed, saying, "Well....I didn't mean for it to sound quite that way. But she said some things, and I didn't like it. I thought you were doing it all, but you had to hear what she had to say! She said she was using you, just for the company and stuff you bought her. I wasn't gonna put up with her using you like that....that aint right!"

Kaiba crossed his hands and smiled, saying, "So, you just figured that out, did you? Do you think I care if I lose a couple hundred on her pathetic needs? I spend less money on her than I have in my petty cash. As far as I'm concerned, I'm 'buying' a positive public image."

"Well....I care." Joey pouted.

Kaiba hesitated. For a moment, the thought of Joey caring about him like that, gave him a strange 'good feeling' inside, but that emotion only shown for a moment, and he quickly suppressed it, hiding under his normal cold attitude. He turned away gruffly, over to the fridge and pulled himself out a bottled water. "I'd offer you one, but you already raided my fridge." He pointed out.

Joey gave a sheepish look, then said, "Uh....so is that why you called me over here, was to bitch me out about Mai?"

"Actually, no. What I called you over here for, I'm afraid you're not going to like. Perhaps you should sit down...." He said.

Joey sat down nervously, wondering what this bad news could be, as Kaiba turned back around. But as he did, Kaiba stopped, noticing the game room door was a crack open....he was sure he closed it. Before Kaiba began, he approached the door, and opened it quickly, looking out in the hall, and down either way....nothing. Kaiba then closed the door once again, looking at it to make sure it was closed.

"Something wrong?" Joey asked.

"No." He said simply, and turned back to Joey's direction, saying, "There's some things that were implied between us, that I want to make sure was not wrongly construed."

"Say, what?" Joey said, getting quickly lost from the big words, and business manner.

Kaiba shook his head, saying, "I seem to forget who I'm talking to. I'll be as blunt and as simple as I can. I do not have feelings for you. I don't care about you....you mean nothing to me. Do you comprehend that?"

"What??" Joey snapped, standing up. "You son of a bitch! I can't believe this crap! You told me you wouldn't pull this shit on me, again! So once again, the great Seto Kaiba is still running scared. You know, you're trying so hard to prove you're a man, maybe you should start learning what it really is to 'be' a man!"

Before Joey could say another thing, Kaiba had approached, grabbing Joey by his collar, and slamming him to the wall, knocking a few of the game knickknacks over. "You know what, Mutt....I can actually admit for once that you're right."

"Uh....come again?" Joey asked, expecting when Kaiba attacked someone like that, it's not to agree with them.

"That's right. I haven't been a man, lately....and I've been having to learn exactly what it's like to be one all over again. Infact, I've been struggling with myself over this dilemma for the last month now, and you haven't been helping. But you know what? I'm getting better...." He sneered coldly, his eyes like ice, no sign of feeling in them....nothing but burning contempt. Kaiba dropped Joey, and turned walking towards the duel area, after grabbing his water.

"I....I don't...." Joey stuttered, trying to figure out what he was talking about, and noticed the door was a crack open again, but didn't say anything about it.

"I know I have not mentioned this to you, or anyone. The fact is, I'm not entirely comfortable talking about it, especially with someone who has already tried to exploit and use my present condition against me. But perhaps if I allow you to fully understand the problem, you'll finally go away." Kaiba stated.

"I don't know what you're trying to convince me of, but I already told you once that actions speak louder than words. I saw how you were, Kaiba....you trying to deny it aint gonna work." Joey snapped.

In a cool-collective manner, Kaiba corrected, "'Aint' is not a word." He then turned slightly, looking over at his opponent, and gave a very subtle cold smile. "And as usual, you seemed to have missed everything I have been saying. I was not denying the way I acted, Wheeler. I admit it fully....I lost control. But I am simply trying to explain to you the reasons behind it. You may not understand this Wheeler, but I am actually doing you a favor."

"And how is that?" Joey asked.

"You think there is something between us, when the whole thing is a lie. The machine changed me in ways that no one could possibly understand. Even though I was changed back, something was still left over....some sort of chemical imbalance. One can't expect such drastic changes without some kind of side-effect, after all. Even though outwardly I appeared to be back to normal, inside I was still not quite whole. Wheeler, when I told you that my behavior towards you was not natural, that didn't mean that I had a phobia towards gays. It meant that before this all happened, I didn't have any attraction to you or any man....and after the transformation, I did. That's why it's not normal, because it's not how I was. Does this make any sense to you, at all?" Kaiba asked.

Joey thought long and hard on this. He then looked up, saying, "What your saying is the machine made you care about me, not you. Is that it?"

Kaiba gave a slight smile, amused at the way simpler people come up with their form of saying things. "I suppose that's a very basic way of putting it, that you can better understand."

"Well, I'm still not buying it." Joey said. "Back when you and Yugi fought that first game ever.....you lost, right? That loss changed you, atleast in a way where you stopped being as psycho and sadistic as you used to be...."

"Is....there a point to this, at all?" Kaiba asked.

"Yeah, the point is....that game changed you. But people change because of all sorts of things that happen around them. You didn't struggle to be the scumbag you once were before Yugi zapped you, right? If anything, you seemed to accept it, and move on." Joey said.

Kaiba began to see where Joey was leading with this conversation. "Actually, I didn't simply accept it and move on, and I did lose more than the game that battle. I'm not exactly sure what Yugi did to me, but it took months to recover from that incident, something I do not like being reminded of." He stated coldly. "And you cannot compare that with this. It's like comparing an orange with an apple....there is simply no relation. It's totally different circumstances."

"But the point was that people change due to all sorts of things that happen around them. And maybe these things happened for a reason, you know? After all, you're fighting to be the person that hated me, right? Why? I wanna know what was so attractive to you to hate me than to care about me? Why do you wanna hate me so much??" Joey asked.

Kaiba sighed, shaking his head, "You still don't understand. I doubt I will ever be able to hate you again...."

Kaiba hesitated a moment, wondering if even admitting that much was a mistake, but continued, "But it is wrong for me to feel....attraction towards you. How could you possibly understand? Just try to think about being a man all your life, having everything that made you a man taken away, then after you're finally returned to what you were, still having strange 'women' emotions that do not belong to you, yet still haunting you, never leaving you alone. You can't understand that, can you? Of course you can't, because it's not natural....what happened to me is not normal. And I intend on regaining what I was, whether you like it or not!"

Despite his intense statement to Joey, he kept his voice even, ending it in a cold hiss. His eyes were intense and burned through Joey, as if daring him to try his hardest to sway Kaiba's determination.

Joey was angry, frustrated, and emotionally hurt to see Kaiba shutting him out again, with a new excuse this time. He approached towards Kaiba, who stiffened up, prepared to do whatever it took to keep any advances from Joey at bay. But Joey did not make contact, as he showed him his collar, saying, "You said this had emotional value to you. Was that supposedly a lie, too?"

Kaiba slowly looked over at it, seeming to fight with himself to do so, as if he didn't want to look at it. For a moment, Joey thought he could see the hint of emotion in his eyes, which again was quickly hidden. His jaw clenched, as he answered stiffly, "No. But the sentiment wasn't from me....it belonged to someone that machine created. It was not mine...."

"Liar!" Joey said, and lunged at Kaiba, kissing him deeply.

If Kaiba was caught off-guard, if Gozaburo did not teach him so well....he would not have not been able to resist, and would have gladly given himself to Joey. But Kaiba was indeed determined to break Joey of this and beat him in his own game.

He knew that Joey would advance on him, since he'd done it before, and had been waiting for it. Kaiba did not kiss back, and turned away. As it was, he wanted to really burn it into Joey's mind by pushing him away, and laughing in his face, but just fighting Joey off as he did took too much out of him, and he didn't have the strength to do anything more.

....but still it was enough. Seeing Kaiba turning from him like that, so coldly, it was too much for Joey to take, and it broke his heart. Joey looked at the man, seeming to be chiseled out of stone, and gave up.

Shaking his head, he said, "Fine....have it your way! Who needs you anyway, you lousy creep!"

He then grabbed his left-over coke, splashing that at his suit, saying, "And keep your lousy drink, too....I don't need it!" He then tossed the empty container on the floor, as he stormed out of the door.

Now that Joey was gone, Kaiba could finally let down the wall he had mentally built around his heart to protect him.

He was left trembling, as he dropped his water bottle, finally crumpling down to the floor, still partially damp from the coke thrown at his clothes. Kaiba's fists were clenched, fighting the waves of pain and despair. He felt a few drops in his eyes, threatening to come out, but fought it frantically, refusing to give in to this weakness.

He rubbed the drops from one of his eyes, and looked at it, whispering, "I won...." And for the moment, he wondered if it was all worth it.

Kaiba was so tied up in his own grief, he didn't see the shadow quickly pass the doorway.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17.

Joey was marching back home, bawling his eyes out. He made sure to stay strong and not break down in front of Kaiba....he had no intention on giving him the satisfaction. "Stupid jerk Kaiba....who needs him, anyway!!" Joey kicked a can, continuing down the road. "He told me he wouldn't do that again! He told me he wouldn't push me away....why's he do this shit to me?? What the hell did I ever do to him!"

"Joey, wait!" A voice came running up behind him.

Joey turned, and asked, "Mokuba?"

"Please don't be mad at him. Seto's always done this to people....whenever they get too close. He really does care about you!" Mokuba said.

"Yeah, well from what I've seen I'd say he's over it. The guy's probably jumping for joy now that I'm gone!" Joey said, turning his head away, so Mokuba couldn't see the free-flow of tears coming from his eyes. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought you were mad at me for beating up on your brother at the hospital...."

"I was, until I realized what was really going on. I found out only a couple days ago, when I started to hear him cry out your name in his sleep." Mokuba said, causing Joey to whirl around in surprise. "I told you Joey, he cares for you....you're never out of his mind, that's why he's so afraid of you. I'm the only person he's ever allowed to be close to him, and that's because I'm the only family he has. He's afraid of getting hurt, so he pushes everyone away. And by the way, he wasn't jumping for joy after you left. I saw him collapse on the floor in grief after you were gone, letting out everything he was bottling up while you were still there."

Joey wiped his eyes, unable to imagine Kaiba getting that emotional for anything. "I dunno....I can't see it. But....why's he afraid of me, and what's that got to do with his changing back and forth??"

Mokuba sighed, "He's afraid because he cares so much!" 'Didn't I just tell him that?' He thought. "As for the other thing....well, Seto needs to find an excuse to justify his actions. If he doesn't, then he'd have to admit to himself that he's pushing you away because he's afraid, and if he couldn't find another reason than that, then he wouldn't do it, because he'd feel he's being cowardly. But this whole thing started after he got out of the hospital. He made this deal with Charujin that we'd settle if they gave him all the information about the device they used on him. He's been re-creating it."

"He, WHAT?? Is he nuts?? Why would he do a stupid thing like that??" Joey asked.

"Because he stuck it in his head that the machine made him care about you, and he thinks this machine can take it away." Mokuba said.

"That's crazy....you don't think that's true, do you?" Joey asked.

"If the machine did anything, it took away his memories long enough to allow himself to open up to someone else for a change. But, I don't think the machine caused him to care about you. He was with both you 'and' Yugi when he was a woman, and he doesn't have Yugi on his mind....it's only you." Mokuba said.

"Good point....I should have used that on him." Joey said. 'Stupid me....'

Mokuba shook his head, "It doesn't matter, he was ready for a battle with you. No matter what you came up with, Seto would have said something to argue with it. His plan was to make you hate him, and get you to stop going after him...."

"Well, then I guess it worked." Joey pouted, though the water-works finally stopped.

"Please Joey, don't say that. I have an idea to show Seto how wrong he is!" Mokuba said.

Joey eyed him curiously, asking, "You do?"

Mokuba gave a mischievous grin, nodding, "Yep....it's full-proof!"

Joey continued to be suspicious of him, as he said, "You know, between you and your brother, your whole family's weird. You got one brother plotting one thing, and the other brother plotting against him."

"Only when his plans are self-destructive. Someone's gotta look after him, he wont!" Mokuba said, exasperated.

"All right....what's the plan?" Joey asked, thinking this felt the same as back when both the Kaiba brothers used to whip up evil plans against Yugi. Atleast this time it was directed at Kaiba himself. With Mokuba sharing with Joey his idea, it made this whole thing feel kind of neat to him....like he was a secret agent, or something!

Mokuba smiled excitedly, saying, "Okay, well I've been keeping up to date recently with the project that Seto's been doing, and I found out that it's already up and running. They tested it on an animal and a person, and passed both. Now he plans on finding someone to go into it and be affected long term, while being hooked up to a device that analyzes everything that he or she goes through, while in this state, to see how it affects the person on an emotional level. Once that's completed, he's positive it will show him how he was not only affected, but how to reverse it, as well."

"Okay, so all we have to do is wait for him to do the final stage, and that'll prove to him that he's wrong." Joey said.

"No....instead, I'm going to choose someone as the experimental guinea pig, mainly you, and put you into a job at Kaiba Corp, close to Seto, to prove to him once and for all that it's not the machine, but him." Mokuba said.

"Wait a minute! You mean you're going to turn me into a girl!??" Joey cringed.

"Don't you see....that would be perfect! All this time he's been telling you how terrible it is, and how you can't understand what it feels like to go through what he did. This way, he can't say that to you, anymore!" Mokuba said.

"But if I'm the experiment, won't he figure out it's me??" Joey asked.

"No, cause I'm gonna choose the person in the experiment, and say it's some guy I met, and insist he let me deal with this part of the project, while guilt him into not taking any part of the water park project that he promised he'd help me with, originally. You'll get your own ID and everything. The things they use to hook you up wont be seen since it's goes nicely under your clothes, kinda like a hidden tape recorder, but it records only you from the inside. And I'll list your new job was given by the temp employment agency he uses once in a while, so it wont look like I hired you. It'll work, trust me! I got it all covered!" Mokuba smiled, confidently.

Joey swallowed, having a really bad feeling about this idea….


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18.

"You know....I'm getting second thoughts about this." Joey said, strapped into the containment device, totally unable to move, as he asked himself over and over, 'How did he talk me into this??'

It was late that night, before all the preparations were ready. "Don't worry, you'll see. It'll be all worth it in the end!" Mokuba smiled.

"3....2....1....now!" The scientist said, pulling the switch.

Joey yelped and hollered, finally screaming as it felt like his whole innards were being changed around inside out. Joey just moaned weakly after it was all over, and felt his face being moved. He opened his eyes to see Mokuba giggling over him. "You look funny."

The workers opened the containment device, and helped him to a temporary bed to lay down. One of the scientists stated to Mokuba, "Master Kaiba, we'll give him his clothes, and the read-out device. Then setup a hair stylist for him, and some kind of fake ID."

"Good, I'll make sure to talk to Seto about it. Let him, uh....'her' know that she has to stay the night here. Oh, and tell him don't worry about his friends or family, I'll make some phone calls and tell them that he took a summer job at Kaiba Corp in the US, so they wont be able to see him until school starts again in the fall. That'll give him enough space, so he wont have to worry. Make sure her new name isn't too close to his original. Oh, and if my brother comes down here, tell him that I instructed you all to tell him that he's not to interfere, cuz he promised to help with the water-ride project!!" Mokuba stated and once they agreed, he left.

-------------------

It was very late, or very early in the morning....however one would see it, when Mokuba came back home. He opened the big main doors, and went inside, immediately freezing in place, to see a dark shadow looming over him.

Kaiba stood in the main foyer, at the top of the stairs - arms crossed, and looking darkly down at his brother. "Well?" He asked.

"Seto. H-hi, big brother. I couldn't sleep, so....I took a walk...." He swallowed nervously.

"You're a terrible liar, and your bed wasn't slept in. I called everywhere looking for you, and finally security said they found you at Kaiba Corp...." Kaiba now began to approach, looking very stern, "....at the experimental room with the project I've been working on. What were you doing there?"

"I...." Mokuba looked nervously, then did what his brother did at times, and built himself up to face whatever threat was coming his way, and said back defiantly, "I took care of the project for you."

"You....you what?" He asked.

"I saw that you were having a problem finding someone to use as a long-term experiment. So, I found someone. I had him transferred from the US. He was the best qualified I thought, since he's not from here, and he said something about being a cross-dresser back home, so it wouldn't bother him being in woman's clothing." He shrugged.

Kaiba stood there, staring at his brother....distrust in his eyes. Finally, he crossed his hands again, saying, "Okay Mokuba, you wouldn't do something like this behind my back without a reason. So why did you 'really' do this?"

Now it was Mokuba's turn to look upset. He actually enjoyed this part of the game he played with his brother, now that Seto was calmer. It was best to argue with his brother when he's confused, because he doesn't put on that 'I'm god over you' attitude.

"Because you promised you'd help me with the water park!" Mokuba said in the most immature pouty voice he could muster, to make him feel guilty. It worked....he could see the flash go over his face.

"Mokuba....I know I originally promised that. And I have helped to work on it with you a little. But you have to understand after everything that's happened to me, I had to place this project first...." Kaiba began.

"....I know." Mokuba smiled, "That's why I took over this part of the project, so now you can help. All you had to do now was pick a person, which I did. Now all that's left is to go through the readings on the person, which the scientists are going through. You don't have to be there for that, they can simply email the results to you on a daily basis, letting you work fully on the water project with me. Please Seto???"

Those eyes....how could he resist those sad pleading eyes? Kaiba's own eyes had softened, and Mokuba new he won. With a smile, he put his hand on Mokuba's head, frazzling the mop, and said, "All right....you win. But don't you do that again. If there's a problem, next time you talk to me. You do not leave at all night, without letting me know where you're going."

Mokuba dropped his head, hiding his mischievous grin, "I'm sorry, Seto...."

"Well, let's get to bed....it's late." Kaiba said, leading his brother to his room.

"Seto....can I sleep with you tonight? I guess I'm not really used to being up this late, and....I'm scared." Mokuba whined. It was actually to ensure Kaiba didn't follow up on what exactly Mokuba did, while he was sleeping. He really didn't like doing things behind his brother's back, but felt it was for his own good.

"Aren't you a little old for that, now?" Seto asked, but with the pleading eyes still going strong, he smiled and shook his head. "Go get changed....I'll see you in a little while."

"Thanks Seto, you're the greatest brother, ever!!" Mokuba hugged him.

That's what Seto lived for, just to hear those words from his brother. It made all of today's hurts go away. Besides, he also didn't fight too much against Mokuba staying with him because he hoped maybe his brother could help chase those dreams of Joey away from him, as he slept.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19.

Mokuba joined Kaiba that day to work. Kaiba attempted to make calls to the lab to get information on the person, as soon as Mokuba left the room for anything, but all they would tell him was the information that Mokuba told them to tell Kaiba, pissing him off to no end. He could probably threaten the information out of the workers, but then Mokuba would catch wind of it, and he would be in trouble for breaking his promise, yet again.

So finally he gave in, and the brothers gathered what was needed, and headed to another office to work together on the water ride project. As they began to work, the secretary paged him from the speaker box in the office. "What is it?" He asked, after pushing the button.

The secretary stated, "Mr. Kaiba, another temp worker has been assigned to your facility." Which could be heard by anyone in the room, from the speaker box.

"Then send him to his job....why are you bothering me with it?" Kaiba asked.

"Well....this woman's been assigned as your personal assistant." She stated.

There was a pause, as Kaiba looked over at Mokuba, asking, "More planning from last night?"

"No." Mokuba lied. "I did put in for you to have an assistant, but that was months ago. It must have just gotten through."

"....why?" He asked. "You know I don't like or need assistance."

"Yes you do. If you have someone helping you, maybe you can get home sooner, and we could do more things that aren't work-related." Mokuba said. Kaiba continued to give him the 'glare'. Mokuba sighed, "It's just a temp-worker, it's not permanent! It's on a 6 month signed contract, that is gone as soon as the 6 months are over, no strings attached."

"Knowing you, I find that hard to believe." Kaiba stated, then clicked the intercom, saying, "Fine, send him in."

The temp worker wasn't a he but a she. The blond entered the room, and was acting a bit awkward. But Kaiba didn't find that too surprising. After all, everyone acts awkward around him, especially when they first meet him. Fear and insecurity on a new employee was always an enjoyable trait to see, especially when they squirmed.

"Uh....hey, I mean, hi." She smiled.

Mokuba and Kaiba just stared for a moment at her. Mokuba rolled his eyes, already seeing a problem, as Kaiba sighed and shook his head in disapproving manner. "Now you see why I try not to hire too many temp workers." Kaiba mentioned to Mokuba.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" She asked.

Kaiba snapped coldly, "When you are dealing with your superior, meaning me, you will at all times refer to me as Master Kaiba."

"Master??" The woman snapped.

"Uh....Mister Kaiba is fine too, right Seto?" Mokuba smiled.

Kaiba glared at his brother, and the woman decided this was the best time to jump in saying with much more politeness, "I really apologize for not calling you that, Mister Kaiba. I'm new, and I'll try my best to do better....sir."

That brought Kaiba's attention back to the newbee, and the apology and politeness thing was acceptable enough, that he let Mokuba overstepping his authority in front of a nobody worker like that, slide for now.

He pulled up the sheet that was printed to him from his secretary, looking over the temp worker's file. "So you are Jasmine Watana, from Brooklyn, NY, transferred here for more work and experience in Japan. Your parents were Japanese, and moved to the US at birth....you are fluent in both languages."

'I am?' Jasmine thought, hoping he didn't test her on her so-called 'fluent' English. While Mokuba was rolling his eyes, thinking, 'I told them to make sure the name was no where near the original!' Catching the J and W, very easily.

"So your experience is working as a secretarial....'assistant' in your last job, at Kaiba Corp in New York, also as a temp worker." Kaiba stated.

"Uh....yeah. Oh, I mean....Mr. Kaiba. I'm hoping if I do enough temp work, I'll move up enough in the ladder to be a permanent worker." She said, putting on a fake smile.

"Obviously you're going to need 'a lot' of experience, because you're far from making such a jump." Kaiba sneered, causing her to scowl at him, but managed to keep her tongue.

"So....what would you want me to do, Mister Kaiba?" Trying not to emphasize the mister, though it could still be heard a bit.

Kaiba caught it and glared....Mokuba could feel the tension in the room as thick as water. "For starters, you can fetch me a coffee. I'm sure if you have trouble with that, you can ask any of the 'permanent' help, here."

"Fine, 'sir'....I will." She said, and turned heading out the door of their office.

Kaiba paused, and turned to Mokuba, saying, "Can we fire temp help?"

"No....unless they do something really drastic, we gotta keep them for the full term....it's under contract." Mokuba sighed. He was hoping 'Jasmine' wasn't going to be this unprofessional, but then what did he expect, after the heated battle that she got into with him just the other night? Obviously it was still affecting her.

Kaiba paused, thinking about that. "Maybe she'll do something drastic. She's already partial way there."

"She 'is' American. They tend to be more lax down there. Maybe once she's up here, she'll learn better through us." Mokuba said.

"Or crash and burn. Where were we?" Kaiba asked.


	20. Chapter 20

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 20.

Kaiba was forced to have this temp worker for a few days, now. The dreams of Joey were still haunting him, and he was even tempted to call him once, having to literally drag himself away from the phone.

While, Mokuba had already called Joey's parents, family, and friends to let them know about the transfer. If anyone inquired why, Mokuba explained that he recently broke-up with someone and asked Mokuba if he could give him a job far enough away to get a lot of space between them. Though most didn't know he was even dating, Yugi knew what Mokuba was talking about. Infact, Mokuba even called Yugi secretly, telling him the whole truth of what they planned, and made Yugi promise not to tell anyone for both Joey's and Kaiba's sake. Yugi wished Mokuba luck, and Joey as well.

Kaiba had absorbed himself into this project with Mokuba, which he felt was kind of fun, really. And even though the temp worker he felt to be annoying, stupid, and inept, her growing arguments with him was almost amusing, reminding him of his arguments he used to have with Joey, before everything became confusing.

But, that actually made her rather entertaining to him, and she reacted so well to his simple prodding of her ego. Mokuba was already starting to notice the interesting familiarity, but said nothing. Then every evening, he would get the read-out on his test subject, and compare notes with the read out this person originally had before the transformation.

As the third day came along, it was already lunch time once again. Jasmine was entering Kaiba's room to give him yet 'another' coffee, when she froze in place.

Inside the room was none other than Mai Valentine, who was looking over her expensive new bracelet. "Wow Seto, you really out done yourself, this time. This must have cost you a small fortune!"

Kaiba stretched his long legs out from away from desk, crossing them and sitting rather comfortably, as he stated, "So, which restaurant would you like to go to for lunch, today?"

"The most expensive one, of course!" Mai laughed. "I was thinking over at the Sea King, where I've heard they have the best lobster steak combo you can get anywhere."

Jasmine's hand was so tight on the coffee cup, it's a surprise the thing didn't shatter yet, as it shook in her hand, at the outward apparent jealousy. Yet no one even noticed she was in the room, yet.

Kaiba smirked, saying, "Surf and Turf? Don't you think that's a bit rich for lunch?"

"Oh, don't you worry....I'm worth it!" She giggled. They were both suddenly interrupted, by Kaiba's coffee cup slamming on Kaiba's counter, and spilling a bit over.

"Here's your coffee, Mr. Kaiba." Jasmine said. She then looked up at Mai, the jealousy and envy easily seen by Mai, as she added, "Sorry, hope I didn't interrupt anything...."

Mai looked coldly at this woman, then up at Kaiba, asking, "Who's this?"

"Temp worker....Mokuba's idea." Kaiba answered.

"Oh, temp help? Should have known....she certainly doesn't seem very useful to you, Seto. I don't see why you bother even keeping her...." Mai said, giving a smirk Jasmine's way.

"That's pretty simple, Mai." Jasmine smirked. "Atleast the paycheck he gives me is a lot cheaper than yours is."

Both gawked at Jasmine, realizing the implication Jasmine stated for all to hear. Despite Kaiba's surprise, there was no sign of anger from the comment.

Mai, on the other hand was fuming. "You little tramp! Did you just call me a whore??"

"Hey, lady….if the shoe fits." She smirked, daring Mai to do something about it.

Mai looked like she was about to strangle her, but then finally noticed Kaiba didn't say a damn thing about it. She turned to him, and protested, "Well, what are you just sitting there, for? Aren't you going to defend me, or something? You could atleast fire her!"

Kaiba did his best to hide the smile trying to form on his face, but the humor was still quite evident in his eyes, as he stated, "Technically Mai, I can't. She's under a temp contract. If you were an official Kaiba Corp. employee I could. But, since you don't work here and aren't an important client of this company, I'm afraid I'm unable to...."

'An 'official' employee??' Mai thought, getting even angrier. Did that make her an 'unofficial' employee? If she didn't know any better, she'd think Kaiba had just subtly agreed with this temp worker!

"So, you think this is funny, do you?" She snarled at Kaiba. "Well, fine! You can just skip the lunch, then! And while you're at it, you can skip seeing me for awhile, too! And if you ever want to see me again, I want an apology from both you, 'and' this tramp!"

With that said, Mai turned on her heal, storming out the door, while calling back, "And don't expect me to be returning anything to you, either!" Slamming the door on her way out.

There was a moment of silence after Mai stormed out, between Kaiba and his temp worker Jasmine. Kaiba kept silent because it was all he could do to keep from falling on the floor in a fit of laughter. After all, he really didn't want to encourage this kind of behavior in any of his employees, especially in a work area.

So he forced the humor back, keeping the mask up, and turned his attention finally over to Jasmine, giving her a glare. "Well?" He finally asked.

Jasmine looked sheepishly guilty, as Mokuba ran in, saying, "What's going on? Mai came storming through swearing at everyone."

"Our temp worker called her a prostitute." Kaiba stated.

Mokuba looked at Kaiba, then at Jasmine, and fell on the floor in a fit of laughter. "Mokuba…" Kaiba scorned, but the smile was finally starting to show at the corner of his mouth.


	21. Chapter 21

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 21.

Jasmine began to smile as well, but as she looked up at Kaiba and noticed the smile once again changed back into an accusing glare, so the look on her face once again became sheepishly guilty.

"Uh, well....I'm really sorry about that. But it just pisses me off when people do shit like that. Oh, sorry Mokuba." She added quick, knowing she wasn't suppose to swear in front of Mokuba....Kaiba's rule. "But she was using you! I don't know why you even put up with it. And she 'was' a prostitute, the way she was clinging to ya for expensive gifts and meals. Maybe someone needed to tell it to her face, so she could see what she was doing to herself, and to you. It aint right."

"Aint isn't a word." Kaiba pointed out, making Jasmine wince at Kaiba's correction. She must have heard that once a day atleast, and she HATED when he corrected her, and he knew it too, and loved doing it all the more.

As he said this, he got up, strolling over, saying, "I actually have to agree. I dated Mai simply because of a common understanding. Unlike most woman who are fake and pretend to care for you, when they really want something more, Mai was quite up front about what her interests were, and I think she understood what mine were, as well."

He now moved in even closer to Jasmine, saying, "I have learned to hate all women, because when it comes to them approaching me, they all seem to have the same interest. I loath users, leaches, and back-stabbers....especially fake ones." Kaiba's eyes were burrowing into her, assuming she was no different at the moment. After all, it did almost sound like jealousy the way she behaved....even to his ears.

She felt those intense eyes, and wanted to sink right into them. But she saw the stare, and she knew....Kaiba was daring her to do something stupid, and she wasn't going to give into his little game. She gave a smirk, saying, "Well atleast you don't have to worry about me, boss. After all....I can't stand you."

That completely threw Kaiba off, as he pulled back unexpectedly, Mokuba's mouth dropping open. Never in all their lives have they ever heard an employee, temp or otherwise, say something like that to Kaiba. "Uh....well, it's a matter of opinion, right? I still work for ya, so I still do the best I can....uh, boss. I mean, Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba glared at her coldly, then suddenly regained a look of dis-interest, stating, "Really. Well, that's interesting, since I never heard someone be so concerned towards a person they can't stand, whether they're being used or not."

"Hey, I can't stand users. And just cuz I think you're a jerk, don't mean I don't have some respect to ya. I mean, you're good with your brother, you got great work ethics, and you're normally not afraid to back down from a fight. But you're still a stuck-up rich snob....Mr. Kaiba." She smiled, emphasizing the mister part, as her usual personal jibe.

A cold smile formed on his face as he glared at Jasmine, causing Mokuba to look nervous, realizing another fight was about to break out. "Uh....I gotta go." He said quickly, and practically ran from the room.

"It's refreshing to hear you finally began to understand work ethics, placing business before personal thoughts. But Mai also had a point. You are a tramp, yourself. After all, just as Mai was, you also serve my every need, and get paid for it. You're simply a cheaper whore than she is." Kaiba sneered, as he calmly sat back down in his seat, behind the desk.

"Well, if any person that makes money off of other people in general is considered a whore, then you must be the biggest one of all, with all the money you get. Wonder how much you have to suck ass to get where you are." She smiled back triumphantly.

Not changing his indifference, he stated, "You realize what you just said is enough cause for me to be able to fire you."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled casually. "Then again, I read my contract just yesterday, and did you know that what you just said gives me cause enough to sue you and your company's sorry ass? But since it was mutual, I figured I'd be a nice person and let it slide. You don't fire me, I don't sue you....simple."

There was a long pause between the two, before Kaiba finally jumped in, saying, "Tramp."

"Moneybags!" Jasmine stated.

"Bitch!"

"Snob!"

Kaiba slammed his hands on the desk and leaned over it, glaring at her, snapping, "I can't understand how any company, temp agency or otherwise, would have accepted such low class trash such as yourself into their firm!"

She stood as well, right up to his face, saying, "Well, maybe if you pulled that rod out of your ass, things would be a little bit clearer for you!"

"I hate you."

"Feelin's mutual!"

"I will find a loophole in your contract, and bury you with it. There is no way I am going to keep you for your full term!" Kaiba snapped.

"Yeah, well you keep digging, you might find some gold. Until then, I guess you're just gonna have to live with me for another whole 5 months, 3 weeks, and two days...." She smiled triumphantly. He was steaming from this fight so much, she could swear she felt the heat radiating off of him. "Snob...." She added in just for flavor.

"That's it!" Kaiba finally erupted, surprising Jasmine. "Fuck the lawsuit, you're being taught some manners!"


	22. Chapter 22

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 22.

Jasmine squeaked, not expecting Kaiba to finally snap from it. She tried to move away quickly, but he grabbed her wrist tightly, as he quickly moved from around his desk. But she recovered quickly, saying, "Yeah, bring it on, tough boy! You're gonna look like such a loser, when you get the shit kicked outta you by a girl!" And went straight for the jewels.

Kaiba could easily guess that as any woman's first target though, and maneuvered himself so she merely kicked his leg, totally missing the true target. But what he didn't expect was the strength behind that kick! He could have swore that she had the strength of a guy, and nearly dropped from the unexpected pain shooting through his leg.

Jasmine saw the hesitation, and the eye twitching showing she hit hard enough for it to atleast count, which caused her to hesitate, as well. Her intention to make him drop by kicking him in the balls were to stun him, not kill him. She didn't expect to hit him so hard. 'How'd I do that? It's like the change didn't make me lose any strength at all. I thought if I was a girl, that....hey, that's right! When Kaiba changed, he still had the same strength too, didn't he? I better watch myself. I have a feeling being a girl might make Kaiba pull his punches on me a bit, no matter what kind of jerk he is, and I don't wanna really hurt him....'

Kaiba only hesitated that moment, and sprung onto her like a leaping cat, pinning her against the wall, totally surprising her. He sneered saying, "Pretty strong for a girl....not bad, I'm impressed. I guess you need some kind of strength to back up that tongue of yours. After all, you talk like that on the street, it wont be long before someone drops you."

She just laughed at that, saying, "Oh yeah, as if you know anything about the street!" Before Kaiba could say more, she suddenly looked startled at something behind Kaiba, and said, "What the fuck was that!" Kaiba looked over to see what she was talking about. As he did, she used all her surprise strength to lunge forward, collapsing on top of Kaiba, knocking the wind out of him.

Both struggled for dominance, hands locked together, rolling over each other....the desk was bashed against multiple times, causing papers to fly to the ground....once again Kaiba was underneath, but managed to pull her hands back behind her back, causing her to outwardly gasp from it.

....gasp? Kaiba was expecting a painful cry, not something that sounded more like she was getting off from it. She looked down at him, as he looked up from her, and neither was sure who caused the kiss first, but it was fast and furious. Clothes were barely removed at all, simply pulled down enough to get the job done.

-------------------

Mokuba was outside in the hall, having a soda pop, and looking over some business notes that the secretary wrote up, both trying their best to ignore the heated yelling and insults at each other, inside Kaiba's office. The secretary looked up at Mokuba, saying, "You realize Mr. Kaiba, that these fights have been going on for nearly half a week straight, now. Someone's gonna get hurt."

"Naww....don't worry about that." Mokuba said. "Seto knows not to do something that drastic to an employee or contractor. He wouldn't want to deal with the lawsuit." He chuckled.

Suddenly they both froze as they heard Kaiba roar out, "Fuck the lawsuit, you're being taught some manners!" And began to hear slamming and smashing now erupting in the room, causing anyone walking by at the time to quickly scurry away in fear. The secretary looked up at Mokuba with an 'I told you so' look on her face, as Mokuba put his hand on his face.

"Should I call security?" She asked.

"No." Mokuba said, shaking his head. "All right, maybe my idea wasn't the best in the world. But I really thought this would work out."

"What would, sir?" She asked.

"Nothing, never mind...." Mokuba said. "Maybe I can do something...." Mokuba added, beginning to approach, but suddenly stopped as he heard something....different. The woman was crying out, but it certainly didn't sound painful, anymore.

'Could it be?' He thought. 'No....they wouldn't. Seto wouldn't....not here!' But sure enough, the crying out was beginning to sound almost rhythmic, causing the secretary to blush furiously from what it sounded like. The worst part about it was that Jasmine didn't seem to have a volume control on that mouth of hers, as she screamed and cried out, like she was being attacked by a wild animal.

Mokuba blushed as well, and muttered, "Uh....tell security to not allow anyone else on this floor, at the moment. And keep everyone else away, for now. Tell them there's a possible security breach or something, as long as it keeps them away."

"Yes, sir." She smiled, and began to get on the phone.


	23. Chapter 23

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 23.

Both Kaiba and Jasmine had finally calmed down from all the energy they had expelled over the last 20 minutes. Kaiba was still reeling, trying to figure out what had come over him to do something like that. The last few days he enjoyed the heated arguments he had to admit, but to take it this far....in a work place, no less. This was very unprofessional, and definitely not normal for him.

Yet somehow, this woman seemed to spur the most intense fits of emotions in him, from hate, to uncontrollable lust. There was only one other that had ever done that to him, and it suddenly made him wonder....did that mean that he was finally getting over his irrational want for Joey? He had to admit, after being with this crazy woman, the worst employee in the world/back alley trash who had no understanding for common decency or work ethics whatsoever....there was not one thought he had on his mind for the Mutt. Somehow, this woman achieved something in him he could not conquer for the last torturous month. He felt....free.

He looked down at the woman crumpled on the floor, her clothes and hair now a big wrinkled mess, eyes mere slits and almost passed out from her own output of constant energy, and he smiled. Infact, his head came down at her shoulder, and he laughed....it wasn't a cold or biting laugh, either.

Jasmine vaguely turned his way, saying, "Hey....you okay?" She chuckled, saying, "You sound like you're having a good time, or something. You better be careful, or your workers are gonna think you're actually human." Sounding amused.

"You're such an ass." Kaiba muttered.

"Seeing it's one of the places you stuck me, you should know." Jasmine said. At that, they both laughed. Jasmine then muttered, "You know, the door's been unlocked all this time. Anyone could just come in here."

"I doubt it." Kaiba stated. "The way you were screaming, I wouldn't be surprised if Mokuba evacuated the whole building, by now."

"Was I that bad?" She asked, sheepishly. He smiled and nodded, causing her to blush.

"So, you still hate me?" He asked.

"Yep." She smiled.

"Good....you want to go to lunch?" Kaiba asked.

"Is that a date? Cuz if it is, you wont like where I pick." She smiled.

"Is it the Sea King?" He mused.

She chuckled, "No, it's Burger Land."

"....isn't that the advertisement with the clown?"

"No, that's another burger place. This place has real hamburger, though....no soy mix included." She smiled.

"I don't know if I'm so hungry, anymore." Kaiba stated.

"Okay, okay....how 'bout a pizza? I know a great pizza place...." She stopped, noticing the look on his face. "Oh, come on....who doesn't like pizza??"

He looked her up and down, muttering, "How do you eat all this? It's all the most greasiest fattening crap you can think of. I'm surprise your arteries didn't explode, by now."

"How about a Sub-shop, then? Or oriental?" She asked.

"I can do oriental." Kaiba agreed.

They got themselves dressed, and out the door, as if nothing had happened. Kaiba noticed Mokuba, with the most goofiest knowing look on his face, as they exited.

Kaiba forced himself to keep the same uninterested look on his face, as he stated to Mokuba, "We're going to lunch." He hesitated, feeling a pain of guilt from not immediately inviting his brother, and began to add, "Mokuba do you want to j...."

"No!" Mokuba cut him off, waving him off. "Go ahead, really....it's okay!" He smirked.

Kaiba turned away, to hide the smile he could no longer keep off his face, and left the building to go eat with his new date.


	24. Chapter 24

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 24.

As another 2 weeks had passed, Kaiba had found that Jasmine was the perfect remedy to his thoughts about Joey, or his doubts of ever still being affected by what happened to him when he was changed. Infact, it had caused him to become less and less interested in his project, at all. After all, if he was over Joey, there was no further problem. He was with a very charismatic woman, who he felt looked great on camera, as well as his bed. It was the best of both worlds. Yet, with this new person in his life, a new dilemma had now arisen....

It was morning, and Kaiba had gotten up, looking out his window at the brilliant sunshine. Last night they went out, but she didn't stay over, since he warned her he didn't want to go too fast, and she understood perfectly.

But it was a lie....his heart was burning for her, it in fact wanted to quicken the pace, not slow it down. His time with her was like he had known her for years, and had simply been reacquainted with an old lover, which made no sense at all to him. He had no past love interests. Hell, he wasn't even in love....atleast he hoped not.

The very thought of such strong feelings scared him half to death. Infact, it was frightening enough, that once again he was trying to think up some reason to get rid of 'her', now. She had managed to get closer to him than anyone ever had, maybe even closer than Joey. The problem was his reason for getting rid of her. Why would he get rid of her? There was no reason to, except for the one reason that he hated to even think of....his own fear.

Kaiba shook that out of his head. He did not believe in running away, simply out of irrational fear, it made no sense. Yet, this fear was that he would get hurt by her. How does one get hurt by another? And a new thought had come to Kaiba's mind....he really didn't know her. What if she was a spy from another company, or simply another person looking for money? She could be a good con woman, maybe she was hoping to get pregnant before showing her true colors, and sticking him with the most expensive alimony suit a person could think of.

So Kaiba made his next decision....it was time to delve into this woman's past, and see exactly who this person was he was dating. If there was something amiss, he would have a reason to get rid of her. If she found out he was snooping, she might leave him....then the problem would be solved. As much as he hated to admit it, he almost missed Mai. Mai was safe, the real reason he now understood why he stuck with her. It may not have totally been impression, after all. He simply knew he would not get attracted to her in that way, and the feeling was mutual.

------------------

Kaiba had gone to work today, as usual. He had a new on going bit of humor with Jasmine now, as she would now call him simply 'master', short for Master Kaiba, and he would call her 'slave'. Yet, neither was serious about it, and normally they would only say that when there was no one else to hear.

He entered his office, closing the door and picked up the phone, dialing security. "Yes, Master Kaiba."

Kaiba smiled, hesitating as the man called him Master. "I....want you to do a basic check on a temp worker that was transferred from Kaiba Corp New York to here. Her name is Jasmine Watana, who was offered to us through Harlan Temp Agency. After she transferred to Japan though, she may be presently employed by YukiUno Corporation, since that's the only temp agency we work with in this region. Call over there as well, to see how well she worked, and what she did. She was supposedly a secretarial assistant. Report to me when you're done."

"Yes, sir." The man stated, as Kaiba hung up. At that moment, Jasmine entered with coffee, closing the door behind her.

"Hear ya go, Master. Brown ooze, straight from the sludge pot, itself...." She smirked.

"You make morning breakfast sound so appetizing." He stated. "I'd swear Mokuba put you up to it."

"Naw....I came up with it all on my own." She gave a smile, her hand moving to his arm, her eyes looked hungrily at him. 'I really love my job.' She thought.

He grabbed the arm she was using to flirt with him, saying, "It's work time, slave. Someone made a mess on my floor....clean it up."

She looked at him dumb-founded, asking, "Mess?" Then looked down at the floor. There was one piece of crumpled paper laying there. Immediately she caught the game, and quirked a smile, saying, "Oh, yes master....your word is my command."

"That's better." He smiled, as she non-challantly got into position, so that when she bent down to get it, her butt would be sticking right at him. As she did, he moved from his chair, leaning into her provocatively, causing her to miss the target....his lips came down, nibbling at the side of her neck, causing her to gasp. He then whispered in her ear, "Are you having problems with your job, Jasmine?"

"I-it's....h-hard...." She gasped.

"Oh is it, now? Let's find out for sure...." He mumbled, grabbing a hold of her, and swinging her over on top of his desk, causing more un-crumpled papers to fly down to the floor, again leaning heavily on her, as he rubbed himself against her, causing her to gasp out, "Seto!"

He smiled at the name, rubbing his face against hers, as he mumbled in her ear, "You forget yourself, slave. This is a work environment, and what do you call me at work?"

"M-master....??" She asked, trying to move her own hips to imitate his motion, getting very warm in the middle as his hard bulge rubbed stiffly against her.

He let out his own grunt of pleasure, whispering, "Don't forget it...."

With a wave of pleasure suddenly wracking through him, he pulled her arms behind her, pushing against her harshly, causing her to cry out, yet she could feel his hesitation to start ripping clothes off. He really didn't want to repeat what happened more then twice now in his own office, yet he'd never had someone tear his resistance up like she had been doing. What was it about this woman that caused him to lose so much control over himself?

When his next move began uncertain, her hands were released. She smiled mischievously, sensing his hesitation, and muttered back, "You shouldn't start what you can't finish....'master'." As her hand traveled to his gold KC belt, and began to unbuckle it. He didn't fight it, as he kissed her deeply, feeling whatever resistance he had attempted to muster up, quickly slip away.

He couldn't stop her, he couldn't stop himself and had a feeling this was going to end up creating a third incident in his office.


	25. Chapter 25

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 25.

Her hand slipped into his pants and began to explore, as he gasped out, moving forward and sucking on her neck. His own hands came around and began to slip off her underpants, while already beginning to slowly thrust against her impatiently.

But before they could get too far, the phone rang, interrupting Kaiba's private moment. He glared annoyingly at it, over whelmed by lust at the moment.

"Ignore it….you can get it later." She whispered, rubbing up against him.

He gave a gasped, but muttered back, "It could be important. I'm waiting for something." He said, thinking about a business meeting that was supposed to be coming up soon.

So reluctantly, he leaned back off of her into a full stand, then picked up the phone.

Of course, that didn't mean Jasmine had no intention of torturing him. As he answered the phone, Jasmine continued to stroke him, while nibbling on his neck.

It took all his strength just to answer the phone in an unwavering tone, "Kaiba." The one word was perhaps a little too quick, as he forced it out, to keep himself from gasping over the phone.

"Mr. Kaiba, we looked up the information you requested on the temp worker Jasmine Watana...."

"Mm-hm...." He muttered, putting all his control into his voice, causing him to start trembling almost uncontrollably, as Jasmine now lowered herself to the level of his pant line and used her lips to kiss him there provocatively.

His eyes shut, as the other hand fumbled up to put a hand over his mouth to keep from gasping on the phone, also moving the speaking part of the phone away from his mouth just incase. His breathing was starting to quicken….he couldn't help it. It just felt far too good.

The security was speaking to him on the line, but he couldn't comprehend what he was saying, becoming so overwhelmed with lust, as he looked down at her as she looked back up at him offering another lick, like it was a lollipop, as she worded, 'Fuck me….'

His mind was quickly shutting down and considering telling the security to call him back, as he finally heard the man on the other end question, "Sir….are you still there?" Wondering why Kaiba had not answered what he just said.

"What?" He asked irritably, as Jasmine giggled and began to use her mouth on him again.

"This information we found out about her is 'very' unusual. The computers from both Kaiba Corp in Japan, and Kaiba Corp in America clearly shows her past and present work experience. Yet, when we called down to the other location, no one seems to remember this person, including the person who hired her, and the secretary she supposedly assisted with, for the previous last 6 months."

Kaiba stiffened, suddenly grasping the information that he was being given, and finally pulled himself away from her, asking, "What are you saying?" Jasmine immediately stopped flirting, and gave him his space, realizing whatever this phone call was, it was obviously an important one.

"Sir, it's almost like someone hacked the system, to put this woman's existence into it. We also looked for her at both temp agencies, and again she does not exist. No one knows who this Jasmine Watana is. I can only guess this woman is a spy, sir. How should we proceed?"

Kaiba froze, absolutely shocked from this information. He was simply grasping at straws, in order to find a reason to break it off with her. He didn't honestly believe he would find something terrible about this woman.

Even though it might have been good that he caught this early before this woman achieved whatever her plans really were, it hurt to know he had allowed himself to trust and give himself to her, and so quickly, too. 'How could I be so blind and stupid?' He thought. "One moment...."

Kaiba put the phone on hold, then quickly zipped himself back up.

He looked down at her, stating, "Something's come up. I'm probably going to have to leave here soon. I want you to assist with my secretary for the rest of the day. Don't forget to see me tonight." With that, he put on a smile, so that she didn't think anything was amiss.

Jasmine moved off his desk, giving him a quick peck on the lips, saying, "You got it, boss-man."

She quickly picked up the papers, putting them back on his desk, then picking up the last crumpled paper and threw it out, finally leaving the room.

Kaiba followed her, and locked the door, then moved swiftly back to the phone, picking it up. "I need to know who this woman is. Hack into the police files, I don't care what you do. I want to know where she came from, and who she is. Look into our own files, if you have to, as well. Maybe she was an ex-employee who got pissed off, and is pretending to be someone else. Whoever she is....find her! I'll be there soon. I also want you to start checking out the computer for any viruses, or any possible security breaches that may have slipped by. If she's a spy, then she's after something."

"We'll go through everything, sir."

Kaiba quickly packed up, unlocked the door, and left, heading to security to try and find out about this information, himself. He had considered calling Mokuba about the matter, but didn't want to upset his brother. Instead, he ordered an upped security to keep watch on Mokuba from a distance, to make sure he was safe, yet remained far enough away so Mokuba wouldn't know there was a potential problem. He also called his brother, lying that there was an emergency stockholders meeting he had to go to, so that he couldn't help him today. Mokuba understood these things happened, and didn't question it.

-----------------

The rest of the day, Kaiba went searching through information to find out about their mysterious temp worker, while the guards looked through the security tapes of every day and night, trying to keep track of exactly where Jasmine had gone.

Kaiba had run into something rather interesting. When he tried to find out who the person was that typed Jasmine's information into the system, what security clearance this person had, it activated a virus. But this virus was very unusual. Though it was a very dangerous self-duplicating virus that couldn't simply be removed by any anti-virus programs, this virus program strangely did not spread. Any person that planted a virus into his system normally tried to destroy as much data as they possibly could. Yet, whoever put this in, seemed to be extra careful not to damage anything else, simply to protect the security clearance file from being tapped. But who had the knowledge of putting in such a virus, yet such care to not want anything from Kaiba Corp to be damaged? If they didn't want it damaged, that meant they wanted to access Kaiba Corp's files for something....that was the only reason he could come up with.

A security guard then came over, saying, "Mr. Kaiba, you might find this interesting...."

He approached the monitor that showed a video recording of Jasmine entering the Kaiba Corp building, except it was the back door, and it was 9pm at night. They then showed films from other cameras, showing where she walked....down the hall, up the elevator, eventually making it to Kaiba's own experiment room. She pulled out one of their own security clearance cards, punching in the code, opening the door and stepping inside. "Unfortunately, since this room was of such high clearance, there were no cameras to show what she was doing there."

Kaiba crossed his hands, looking intently as the woman he thought he could trust entered the high security door. "This has to have something to do with Charujin....I'm sure of it. No other company even knows about this experiment going on. You would think they wouldn't try something so stupid though, after I was so close to almost destroying them already once." He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Well, I see two options at the moment. We can go about this the hard way or the easy way."

"Which would be, sir?" The guard asked.

"We can go through the high security area with a fine-tooth comb, and question everyone about this matter - which would be the hard way, or we can simply wait and go right to the source, itself....and question Jasmine about it tonight." Kaiba stated. He turned to look at the time of the clock, adding, "And seeing what time it is, I think it would be simple enough to wait for her to meet with me, and deal with her, then."


	26. Chapter 26

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 26.

Mokuba leaped into his big brother's arms, as he entered the house, saying, "Big brother, you're home early!" Mokuba then noticed the strange stern look on his face, as he gently put Mokuba back on the ground, and a few of his security task force came in right behind him.

"Seto....what's going on?" Mokuba said.

"There's been a security breach." He said, checking the clock. "You're going to have to be escorted into the safe room, with some of our men watching outside. I'm not taking any chances....you'll be let back out, when we're sure it's safe."

"But, Seto....I wanna be here with you! Let me help!" Mokuba said, no clue what was happening.

"Sorry kiddo, not this time." Seto smiled, then nodded to his men to go with Mokuba. After Mokuba was led away to safety, he told the others, "Jasmine is expected to be here at any time. Stay out of view until I signal for you."

"Yes, sir." They said, closing the main door, and scattering to their hiding areas.

Kaiba went into the living room for a minute and took a seat, as his mind went through the last few weeks. He couldn't understand what drew him to her. It still hurt to think she was here to cause damage to him. It hurt more for him to think that he was foolish enough to trust anyone, letting her work herself into his heart so quickly.

How could he have allowed that to happen? In all honestly, he should have seen the signs that she wasn't who she claimed to be. Jasmine showed no sign of any kind of understanding of how to act in the business world. There was no way she was a secretary's assistant. On top of that, the strength she possessed was unusual for a woman of her physique and stature. It was like fighting came naturally for her. How could he have not seen the possibility staring him right in the face, like that?

He could only think of one reason....Joey. He was so desperate to escape his inner turmoil for the blond Mutt, that he must have willingly jumped at the first thing he could to escape his own emotional roller-coaster. And it had actually worked for him, but at what cost?

Joey....for the first time in three weeks, he missed him. True, Kaiba still felt it was the machine that made him feel that way for him. But, there one thing about Joey....he could atleast trust that the loyal Mutt would never do anything that would intentionally hurt him or his company. Sure, he said a few embarrassing things to Mai, but he wouldn't do something like go to the reporters to smear his name, or break into Kaiba Corp and start hacking his system. Just that thought alone amused him. After all, even if Joey was the type to try and hurt him, he would never have the brain power to do something so technical.

Though he had to admit, Joey did still have his street smarts…something Kaiba no longer could deny. As his mind drifted to thinking about Joey, the collar he gave him, and the time they had together, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Kaiba's mind cleared immediately, thinking, "Jasmine."

--------------------

Kaiba walked to the door, and opened it with a smile, saying, "Glad you could make it."

"Hey-hey, I'm here! Let the celebration begin!" She announced, as if she just walked into a crowded party room.

Her strange cheerful attitude was normally inviting to Kaiba, but at this moment, it hurt to see it. It hurt to see her. Kaiba turned away and walked towards the living room, saying, "Close the door....there's something I need to talk to you about."

She looked over at him, noticing he sounded rather serious....in fact, it was a very business-like tone. "There....something wrong?" She asked, closing the door.

"You could say that." He said, not hesitating, as he headed towards the living room.

She followed behind Kaiba saying, "So....what's wrong?" This almost reminded Jasmine of that fateful day that Kaiba called Joey to the game room, to break it off with him, and break his heart. She then suddenly remembered what Mokuba said.

_"He always pushes people away, when they get too close...."_

She shook the flashback away, and suddenly blurted out, "Wait a minute! You're not....breaking up with me, are you?" She asked, suddenly nervous.

"You sound nervous." He said calmly, then said in a darker manner, "You should be...." And snapped his fingers. To Jasmine's shock, she was suddenly surrounded by security.

"Wait, wait, woah! What the hell is going on, here???" Jasmine flailed around, as two security grabbed hold of her, two stood behind as backup, and a last one pointed a gun at her back.

Kaiba turned, and approached her, looking very cold and reserved, saying, "That's exactly what I'd like to know."

He glared into her eyes with such hate, it surprised her. This wasn't a shield over his eyes, this was genuine raw emotion of the worst kind. But what could she have done to bring such scorn from him, and make him hate her so? She didn't understand.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, hissing out, "Did you think I wouldn't find out about you? Did you? You must think I'm pretty stupid, to try and pull the wool over 'my' eyes. It's bad enough to have people like you try to pull a fast one on me, but to insult me by thinking I wouldn't find out? You're pathetic...."

Jasmine's eyes twitched, realizing, 'He figured it out. And now he hates me even more. He's right, how could I be so stupid to think Kaiba wouldn't find out the truth? Man, I shoulda known better. Now he'll never forgive me. I deserve this....'

Her head lowered, saying, "I....I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have gone through with it. It's all my fault. But ya gotta believe me Kaiba, I was just trying to prove that you were wrong about us. I did it cuz I care, and....I wanted you to give us a chance."

A few tears formed into her eyes, as they dripped down to the ground. The guards seemed uncertain what to think of this odd display from a supposed corporate spy.

Kaiba was equally confused, and spit out, "Did this for 'me'?? What on earth are you babbling about?! If this is another one of your sick games, I'm not impressed!"

He grabbed the stunned and confused Jasmine by her shirt collar, pulling her harshly close to his face, as he snarled, "I want to know who you work for, and what you were doing in my high security experimental chamber, and I want to know now!! Charujin put you up to this, didn't they!!"

"Uh....huh??" She asked, once again totally confused.

Kaiba released her collar, then smacked her across the face, snapping, "Do not insult me with your supposed ignorance! You tried to fool me with that once, it's not going to work again! I found your virus. What were you trying to find from Kaiba Corp's files? Where did you get one of our passkeys and passwords? Who are you really?!!"

"You....don't know who I am..." Jasmine said, suddenly beginning to realize that Kaiba only partially found out, and must have jumped to conclusions, and assumed the worst. Even though she was hit hard in the face, realizing that Kaiba wasn't hating her for the right reasons somehow made things not so painful.

He grabbed her by the collar again, saying, "Stop playing these games with me! I guarantee you that you'll want to tell me now. Because if you don't, next I'm going to bring you to the questioning room to have my security work on you for awhile. Believe me, after they played with you for a bit, you'll be begging to talk to me...."

"All right, all right, leggo....I'll come clean!" She said, flailing about.


	27. Chapter 27

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 27.

Kaiba released her collar, and turned away, walking a few steps, as he spat out, "Smart move. Now, talk!"

"It aint what you think it is, at all. I didn't know about no virus. To be honest, well....I didn't get this job entirely on my own. I....don't wanna get anyone in trouble here...." She stammered out.

"You should be worrying about yourself, right now. Trying to sabotage this company is a serious offense, whether you had help or not." Kaiba stated.

"I AINT TRYING TO SABOTAGE NO COMPANY, YOU IDIOT!!" She spat out. "I was trying to go on a date with you! This was the only way we could figure out to do it, cuz you wouldn't listen to reason any other way, you stupid thick-headed moron!!!"

Kaiba sighed, "Spare me. This is the best excuse you can come up with? Fine, that was your last chance. Thompson, deal with this loser...."

"Yes, sir." The man said.

"I aint lying! If you don't believe me, then ask Mokuba! He's the one that put me in the system, okay??" Jasmine spat out, as they began to drag her away. But the words she spat out caused them to hesitate They looked to Kaiba, to make sure if they were to continue to take her away or not.

Kaiba did not seem phased by this. Infact, he gave a slight chuckle, saying, "My brother tampering with the system to let a spy into Kaiba Corp? You're excuses are becoming more pathetic each time. Well guess what, I don't believe you....take her."

They continued to drag her away, as she blurted again, "Don't you get it? I'M the experiment! That's why I was going in there! I got the patch to prove it!!"

"STOP!" Kaiba snapped, causing them to stop. Kaiba whirled around, and approached Jasmine, his face now a mask hiding anything that may be going through his mind at the moment, as his eyes studied hers. "You said you had proof. Where is it?"

"It's on my left side, under my arm...." She said, sadly.

He lifted her shirt, without care for her own modesty at the moment, and found the patch, that looked more like a cigarette patch on the outside. He grabbed and ripped it off, causing her to yelp. Then looking at it from the inside, it clearly indicated the mechanical device that was constantly checking Jasmine's internal systems.

'She's the experiment....' Kaiba now realized, in horror. 'And if she's telling the truth, and Mokuba did all this, then....this woman is actually a guy, and Mokuba intentionally lied to me, putting him there on purpose!'

"Out." Kaiba said.

"Sir?" The guards asked.

"I said everybody out, now!!" Kaiba yelled.

They immediately dropped their prisoner, and left Kaiba's home, at once. Kaiba just stood there, his mind seemed to be in another world, somewhere.

"Uh....Kaiba, I'm...." Jasmine began to say, trying to gently place a hand on his shoulder.

Kaiba immediately moved with lightening speed, grabbing her collar with both hands, and shoving her against the wall.

"WHO ARE YOU!!!" He demanded, his eyes now furious with what he was finding out.

"It....it's me, Joey...." She said.

His anger changing to shock, as things finally began to make more sense to him. It made sense how he became so quickly attracted to her, why Mokuba worked as hard as he did to hide he was the hacker, what Mokuba's real reasons were for taking over his project.

He should have seen it, but he didn't....his own blind trust for his brother prevented him from seeing such an obvious ploy from the very beginning. He let her go, and began to walk away out of the living room.

"Hey, Kaiba....listen, don't be mad...." She said.

"Get out." He said calmly, never ceasing his pace. Before long, Kaiba was completely out of sight.


	28. Chapter 28

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 28.

Kaiba had made it to the safe room, and told the security guards to leave. He then punched in the code, and opened the door. Mokuba ran over to him, concerned, saying, "Seto....is everything okay?"

Kaiba didn't answer him at first. He simply looked down at his brother, looking upset....at him. "Uh....what's wrong?"

"Maybe you'd like to tell me what's wrong, Mokuba." Kaiba stated.

"How would I know? You said there was a security breech!" Mokuba said.

"Yes, there was. Someone hacked into Kaiba's computers, and added a virus into the system. One of my temp workers was typed into the computer, a person who doesn't exist and never even went to the US. That same worker was spotted somehow having clearance for one of the highest security areas of Kaiba, Corp. You have some explaining to do, Mokuba...." Kaiba stated.

During Kaiba's entire speech, Mokuba was looking more and more guilty. "Seto....please, I know I did a bad thing, but...."

"There is no buts to this!!" He snapped. "My security is finding signs of what would normally be looked at as a potential terrorist attempt! Do you have any idea what you did?? You went behind my back, adding viruses to my systems, messing up files, panicked the entire company....but worst of all, you deceived me, and betrayed my trust."

Mokuba dropped to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees, as he began to cry, "I'm sorry, Seto. I wasn't trying to make you angry with me...."

"How am I supposed to react to this, Mokuba? You are the only person I've ever trusted. And what you did...." Kaiba didn't continue.

"I....I was only trying to make you happy." He hiccuped. "You're always doing things for me, Seto. I wanted to do something for you...."

Kaiba paused, looking down at the miserable form of his brother. "I don't exactly see the logic behind what your saying. How is this doing something for me?"

"You told Joey that you didn't care about him, that it was the machine that made you feel this way towards him. So, I had him changed into a woman....it was the only way to show you that it didn't matter what sex he was, or what sex you were....that you still cared for him! You always push people away, Seto. I didn't want you to make up any more reasons for pushing him away....so you could finally be happy!" Mokuba said, looking up at him through tear-filled eyes.

"Mokuba, I...." Kaiba stammered, his eyes twitching. "You shouldn't have gotten involved in this. So, that was the reason that door was open that day, you were eaves dropping on me, as well. You had no right to do that! And what makes you think I should care for him? The conversation I had with him that day showed nothing about caring for him!"

"I....saw you, afterwards...." He muttered.

Kaiba turned away, not wanting to look Mokuba in the eyes, after what was revealed to him. "You don't understand. It's the transformation that...."

"And I heard you at night, calling out to him while you were dreaming...." Mokuba added.

Kaiba looked over, horrified at what Mokuba said to him. Eyes twitching more, he asked, "I....did that....??" He knew in his dreams he called out to him, but didn't realize it was something he actually did for anyone to hear.

Mokuba slowly stood and approached his brother, saying, "I don't care who it is Seto, as long as that person makes you happy. I want you to be happy, and you know it's not the machine that's doing this. You never knew it was Joey, and you were still attracted to her, because it's how she was on the inside that drew you in. And it started the same way it did when you were you, and Joey was Joey. It started with you two always at each other's throats, taunting each other. You liked to argue with Joey then, just as you liked fighting with Jasmine!"

Kaiba wasn't exactly sure what to say, simply staring down at his brother. Mokuba was now looking down, and sniffing, saying, "Are you mad at me?"

Kaiba drew himself down to Mokuba's level, and gave a soft smile, saying, "I could never stay mad at you, kiddo." Hugging his brother.

After a moment, he added, "But first thing in the morning, I expect you to fix the virus you threw in my system, as well as all the files you tampered with, and I expect you to change that Mutt back into the way he was."

"But it hasn't even been a month yet. The experiment isn't over...." Mokuba said.

"Yes it is. The experiment's over....I'm shutting it down." Kaiba said.


	29. Chapter 29

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 29.

Kaiba had walked back to the main section of his house, and into the kitchen to get something to drink. There was all sorts of pop, milk, water, juice, and other various drinks of sorts to choose from, but then he looked across the room at the minibar he normally used only for business celebrations. Kaiba didn't drink, he didn't believe in it. Drinking only clouded ones senses, making them vulnerable towards anyone a person faced. And except for Mokuba, anyone else would normally be seen as an adversary in his eyes. But in the comforts of his own home, with no one around to really bother him anyway, except for Mokuba....

Kaiba closed the fridge, saying, "Why not?" He really felt after everything happened, that he could use a little brain-numbing for a change, and try to forget about everything today....deal with it tomorrow.

He left the kitchen, entering the living room to the mini bar, and poured himself a shot of something. He didn't read the label....he didn't really care. No matter what it was, he knew it would taste horrible to him. He brought the concoction to his lips and drank down 1/2 of it....

"I didn't know you drank...."

....and instantly spit it up from the voice behind him. Kaiba whirled around to see Jasmine casually sitting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table. "I don't. What the hell are you still doing here??"

"Sitting on your couch, obviously." She smiled over to him. He didn't look amused. 'What else is new?' She thought. "I wondered where you took off to. It felt like forever before you made it back here. You know, for someone who don't drink, that suspiciously looks like a drink to me."

Kaiba put the glass down on the mini bar, no longer having any interest in drinking it. "And for someone who was supposed to be gone after I ordered her to leave, it's strange that you're still here."

"Is that an order, master?" She smiled.

"I'm not in the mood for your games, Mutt. Woman or male, you're still a Mutt." He stated.

"Does that mean I should put my collar back on?" She asked.

He turned away, trying to force pent-up feelings down away from him. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to go through this battle with Joey again, whatever form he was in. And he knew he wasn't ready for it, either. If she advanced on him, would he be able to resist this time? He wasn't sure, and that uncertainty worried him.

Kaiba didn't immediately say anything back, so Jasmine continued, saying, "Mokuba once said to me that anyone besides your brother that you start to care for, you normally push away. Is that right?"

"That's interesting." Kaiba stated. "I'm afraid I can't agree with Mokuba. After all, besides my brother, there 'is' no one else that I care about...." He stated, turning to face the woman sitting on the couch.

"So....you hated me so much, you asked me out, huh? That what you're saying?" She asked.

Kaiba's face once again became the mask, stating in a very business-tone, "It's all about image, Watana. Because of you, I lost my last image consultant....I was in need for a new one."

"You are so full of yourself, you know that??" She stood up. "For your precious image, you used Mai and bought her all the things a greedy person would want. But that's not what you did with me. And our times in your office and bedroom I have a feeling was not something you shared with Mai....now was it??"

Kaiba glanced away from her, unable to answer. She was right, and he knew it....and he was having trouble trying to find a way out of this.

"You know, I made a lot of sacrifices to try and get it into your thick head how stupid you've been acting between us. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to wear a woman's high heels, bra, and panties....besides how embarrassing it is??" She asked.

Kaiba didn't answer that one either, because he did know from his own transformation, and the very thought of it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Jasmine caught his discomfort, and smiled, "Yeah, you probably do, don't you? So, then you probably know how tough it is, having someone who didn't lose their memories to do that. But I did it anyway, for you....cuz I care about you. And you can't use that bullshit line anymore, saying, 'I don't know nothing cuz I haven't been through the torture and horror you have', cuz now I have. I have been through it in fact longer than you have. You dealt with it for four days, I dealt with it for almost 3 weeks....I was prepared to go through it until school, if I had to. And your right, you do get weird emotional girlie hormones from it, that really freaks you out at times. But you know what, that hasn't changed how I feel about you. And no matter what I'm changed into, it's not going to make me feel any different....only you can do that."

Kaiba stayed silent during the whole speech. He finally turned and moved closer to the couch, where Jasmine was at. Crossing his arms, he asked, "Do you want something to drink?" Deciding to play the polite host for the moment.

"Sure, gimmee what you're having." She said, nodding towards the mini bar.

"I'm not drinking." Kaiba said.

"Come on, you know you want one. I think after all that happened, we can both use a hard one." Jasmine stated. Then realizing how that sounded, she chuckled, saying, "I mean a strong one...."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow to this, but turned to the mini bar. He poured the same concoction in another glass, then after a moment's pause, refilled his own. 'What the hell.' He thought. 'It's not like she could do anything worst to me, anyway....'

He brought Jasmine her drink, and sat down next to her with his own. "Bottom's up." She said, clinking glasses together, and they both drank 1/2 of it. Kaiba simply sat, trying to relax, as he felt the stuff burn down his throat. "You okay?" Jasmine asked.

Kaiba silently nodded, yet still said nothing. He was thinking about everything that was said to him, and knew it was pretty much all true. And he knew he was trying to push Jasmine away, not because of what happened, not because of what sex she was supposed to be, and not because of the machine, but it was because of fear of getting close. Mokuba was right what he said to Joey, he did push people away. And he knew if he did that now, the only excuse he would have was fear to hide behind. He did not face danger by running away. Like a fighter, he believed in moving forward and taking risks. It was time to finally stop pushing her away, and accept the agreement he originally gave to Joey that he wouldn't do that again.

"I'm sorry." He finally said. "Maybe you're right...." He downed his glass, letting the buzz filter in.

"Did I hear that right? Man, where's a tape recorder when I need it. Kaiba apologizes...." Jasmine giggles, downing the rest of her own glass.

Kaiba glared at her, and moved, pushing her down into the couch. He then hesitated, looking down at her, and she could see his need for her in Kaiba's eyes, as he suddenly moved down with her, pressing his lips against hers.


	30. Chapter 30

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 30.

Kaiba had awoken late that morning, in bed....with the blond, wearing nothing but a dog collar. He looked down at her and smiled. It was an odd feeling he felt, really....he felt good, better than he had in a long time.

Jasmine was asleep with her head shoved in the pillow, her mop hair everywhere. The only difference from when she was Joey was that her hair was even longer and more out of control. Kaiba looked down the female figure, studying every aspect of her. 'He did this for me....' Kaiba thought, as a warm feeling came over him.

The door suddenly swung open, with Mokuba saying, "Seto, I'm gonna...." and stopped, looking at his brother, then down at the blond figure. Kaiba looked up, not expecting the intrusion, his expression simply a blank stare.

Mokuba didn't even know Jasmine came to visit last night. He knew about some possible threat, then was yelled at for what he did. No one told him that she was actually coming over, or realized Seto would let her stay the night....and in his room. Even with the hot relationship they've been having, this was in fact the first time he let her stay over. It was like a line he was afraid to cross before, but finally accepted it.

Mokuba quickly said, "Never mind...." and closed the door. He was about to ask if his brother knew where Jasmine had stayed that night, but there was obviously no sense, now.

As Mokuba left, a moan came from the woman laying there, murmuring, "I'll have some pop tarts...."

Once again Kaiba smiled, maneuvering himself over the blond and wrapping his arms around her waste. "Time to wake up, Mutt. You should get a shower in, by the way....you look like shit."

"Thanks." Muffled Jasmine's voice through the pillow her face was still partially shoved in. "Good morning to you too, asshole."

Kaiba then moved one of his hands up, pulling on the collar, and began to suck on her neck. Jasmine immediately yanked herself over, stopping Kaiba in the process, snapping, "Cut it out, jerk....I don't want a hickey."

Kaiba gave a smirk, then turned away and stretched like a large cat, as he began to try and focus on their plans for today. "Hey, uh....what are we gonna do about your experiment thing? You kinda pulled off the reading thingee last night. You got another one to replace it?" Joey asked.

"The experiment's over. You're going back to normal today." Kaiba answered.

Jasmine looked wide-eyed. "I am? You're serious?"

"Of course....if you don't want to, I can live with that." Kaiba looked back over, flashing an evil grin.

"No no....that's fine." She said. She then jumped up, looking very happy. "That's great! I get my old body back! Joey's back in action! I even get to see Yug', and the rest of the gang again!"

Kaiba then pulled Jasmine back down, moving himself on top. His eyes burned for her, as he said, "Of course, that would mean this is my last chance to have you....like this."

Jasmine swallowed, saying, "But didn't we just do that last night?"

Kaiba just grinned, and moved in for the kill.


	31. Chapter 31

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 31.

It took all morning struggling with Kaiba to peel him away from her long enough to get dressed, and rushed to Mokuba for protection. Kaiba wasn't kidding about getting what he could from her today, until she was returned back to normal. He even joined her in the shower, taking full advantage of her womanliness.

After eating breakfast, all three finally made it to Kaiba Corp. Kaiba offered one more deep kiss to Jasmine on the elevator up, despite his brother standing right there, and let them both go to do what they had to for Jasmine. Kaiba then went to his floor, and began work again.

Kaiba paused his work for a moment, as he considered the changes that were about to take place in his life. Joey was going to be Joey again, and Kaiba wouldn't be able to have him in the same way. It wasn't really that he liked Joey one way better than another, but being a male again was going to make what they had very different from before. They would have to be more careful on any public display of affection, and sex would be very different, too. Kaiba had no idea what to even do in that case. It was probably something he was going to be forced to somehow find out about....either that, or look like a naive inexperienced fool in front of Joey, which he didn't like the thought of. It was the reason he was so desperate to jump Joey as Jasmine....atleast in that form, Kaiba knew what to do with her.

------------------

They went into the experimentation room, and Mokuba began to let everyone know the test had been canceled, and it was time for their 'lab rat' to be returned to normal early. Jasmine bounded over to the nearest garbage can, saying, "Well, I guess I don't need this, anymore." Pulling off some other patch.

Mokuba looked over at her, saying, "Joey....what's that?"

"Huh?" Jasmine asked, suddenly blushing. "Oh, uh....it's something women use once in a while. It aint important....don't worry about it."

But Mokuba was not as stupid as Joey hoped him to be, and he snickered, saying, "You were taking birth control??"

"Shut up!" Joey snapped, his whole face red, now. "You said I was gonna be this way a month or two, originally....I didn't wanna take a chance, you know? It's better to be safe than sorry, especially since I'm suppose to be a girl. I don't wanna screw up and end up having to be forced to be this way again, cuz of some stupid mistake."

Mokuba was laughing now, saying, "I....I know, it's just....that's funny!"

"No it's not." Joey pouted. "I hate having to go through stupid girl things! Think of you having to go through one of their monthly cycles....talk about gross. I had to deal with that, last week."

Mokuba was now laughing harder, even tearing. "You....you went through...." He sputtered in-between gasps. "You had a period?? Does Seto know??"

"About the monthly - thing, yeah. He couldn't have sex with me for a week. He wasn't happy about it, either. Of course, he'll probably never let me live it down, now." Joey sulked. Joey then whirled around, saying, "And don't tell him about the birth control!!"

"All right, all right, I promise...." Mokuba said, wiping the tears of laughter away.

They made the preparations, and Jasmine got back into the machine. It only took a moment before he became Joey once again. Before that happened, Jasmine had put on Joey's normal clothes too, so he wouldn't have to come out, looking pretty scary in a women's dress, bra, and panties. Now comfortable in his own clothes and own body, he put his socks and shoes on, and passed out on the floor from sudden exhaustion. For the rest of the day, he was on the vitamin drip and given solid food in the lab, much to his displeasure since he was hoping for a nice juicy cheeseburger, himself. Mokuba was kind enough to arrange their barber to cut the now extremely long hair back to Joey's choice of style. The stylist didn't seem too keen on offering a no-style haircut to the kid, but for some reason, it's what he wanted. Yet, Mokuba was on his side about it, too. Infact Mokuba even joked, saying, "Hey, maybe I should go in the machine. Then I could get my hair even longer!"

"Mokuba....if you had any longer hair, you'd be tripping over it." Joey joked back, making the younger Kaiba laugh. "Besides....your brother would kill you, for multiple reason for doing something like that."

-------------------

Kaiba had worked all day, having a very light snack for lunch. He put his paperwork aside, and just sat there, thinking for a minute. In total, it was a month in a 1/2 all this took place since the kidnapping. So much madness had happened since that time. But atleast now, he could see a light at the end of it. Things had to get better from here, less confusing, less crazy....

Kaiba felt another presence and looked up to see Joey, leaning against the wall of the open doorway. "You look like yer sick a work." Joey said, looking over and flashing his famous 'Joey grin'. "Wanna go get a bite?"

"Where do you suggest?" Kaiba asked.

Joey's grin now went from ear to ear, saying, "My favorite place, of course."

"I am 'not' going to Burger Land." Kaiba stated, flatly.

"Why not? They even got salads, for rabbits like you." Joey pointed out.

Kaiba crossed his hands defiantly, but surprising gave in, answering, "Fine. But don't forget who you are now. You make a pass at me, I'll hurt you."

Joey looked at him, but said nothing. For some reason, he never even thought of that.


	32. Chapter 32

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 32.

Kaiba had a salad at the tacky-colored booth, while Joey ate one of their famous 'Greasy Burgers', making both of them sick to see the other one eat, and mostly stared down at their own food.

"I don't know how you can eat that crap." Kaiba spat out.

"Well, that goes for the two of us, then. How can anyone live off of lettuce?" Joey asked.

Kaiba glanced up at him, despite it giving him the urge to hurl from seeing Joey eat. "What I eat is atleast healthy for a person. Besides, I don't eat just salad. There's simply nothing else to eat at this dump that couldn't kill someone. The food I like doesn't require a 90% grease intake to make it."

"Hey grease adds flavor, there's nutt'n wrong with a little grease once in a while." Joey said, in defense to the burger that was now almost totally devoured, while Kaiba was still picking at his salad.

Kaiba paused, looking at him. "You can actually say that with a straight face? There is something seriously wrong with you, Wheeler. Perhaps the grease made it to your brain."

"Atleast I don't eat like a girl." Joey smiled.

Kaiba's eyes began to glare dangerously, as he warned him, "Watch it....you're crossing the line, Wheeler."

Joey swallowed, "Sorry." He had been with Kaiba long enough, atleast as Watana, to finally begin to know when to quit. It was helpful that Kaiba was beginning to atleast warn him about that, too. 'Right, the girl thing was probably still a sensitive subject. Dunno why, though....hell I was one longer than him.'

Joey quickly changed the subject, saying, "Okay. So...." Then brought his voice quieter, saying, "What are we gonna do about this?"

Kaiba knew what he was talking about. He replied, "The past gossip regarding myself had already blown over, since I had been pictured with two women, now. So, I no longer think that's an issue. I don't see a problem with occasionally going out somewhere, as long as we don't do anything too apparent. As for anything personal, we'll have to take that in doors, obviously."

"Yeah, I figured that...." Joey agreed, looking around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers.

"What about your friends?" Kaiba asked.

Joey answered, "Well, I think you already know that Yugi knows about this."

"Yes, I got that indication when he gave me the third degree, during our duel." Kaiba smirked.

"I didn't tell anyone else. You think I should?" Joey asked.

"That's up to you. But they better not leak anything about me. Keep in mind, that could hurt you as well, if word ever got out. I guarantee you, the press would never leave you alone." Kaiba said.

Joey looked down, saying, "Well, this is still pretty new for us, anyway. Maybe I'll just wait to tell them, and see how it goes first. I can always tell 'em later, if I have to...."

"Speak of the devil...." Kaiba muttered, suddenly focusing only on his food, as he casually took a bite of his salad, and his features instantly took on the cold-chiseled look. Joey immediately knew what that meant....the gang was here.


	33. Chapter 33

**YUGIOH**

MP: Aftermath

Chapter 33.

"Hey, Joey!" Tristan said, as they came into Burger Land. "I didn't know you were back. I wish you told us you were leaving."

"Yeah well, there were some things I had to take care of." Joey answered, finishing off his burger.

Duke grinned, saying, "So when do you hang out with Kaiba, of all people??"

Joey quickly got a napkin, shoving it to his mouth to wipe it, not exactly sure how to explain that one. His eyes looked like he was caught in the headlights. Yugi also looked worried, since he immediately took this as a possible date, then Tea and Tristan simply watched, being as curious as Duke was.

Kaiba knew it would have to be him to save their asses, this time. Joey was quick-thinking on the street, but obviously had no clue what to say to his own friends.

"Relax Devlin." Kaiba sneered, getting up from his seat. "I am not here to socialize with the Mutt. For some reason, Mokuba felt sorry for this stray dog and decided to hire him overseas....without my knowledge. I can't imagine how much my company must have suffered with a loser like him working there. So, I dragged him back here, to offer him his final pay." Kaiba pulled out an already written paycheck and slapped it down next to Joey's face.

Joey looked up at him, saying, "Wait a minute....does that mean I'm fired?"

"You just figured that out, now?" Kaiba smirked. "Don't worry....maybe Burger Land will take you."

He then gave harsh biting laugh, that made everyone shiver from it, as he shoved through the crowd leaving the restaurant.

"Man....what a jerk!" Tristan snapped.

"Yeah...." Joey said, trying to hide the respect in his voice, as well as keep the smile off his face. 'How the hell does he do it?' He wondered in admiration of how quickly Kaiba turned that whole thing around. 'Then again, I guess it's just second nature for him to piss people off, like that. So, why am I so happy about it, instead of pissed off as well? I know....cuz I know he didn't mean it, for once. He's just playing the bad guy again.' "Don't worry about it, Tristan....you know how Kaiba is. Besides, I got money! Let's blow it!"

"Great, you buying us lunch, Joey?" Tristan asked.

Joey smiled over at them, as they took a seat at Joey's booth. "Well, I just ate, but I'm sure I got room for another burger here!"

"Knowing you Joey, you could probably eat every burger here, if you could afford it." Duke answered.

Joey laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right. Hey waitress, we need some more food over here!"

-------------------

Joey enjoyed his time with his friends, once again....as Kaiba returned home. But neither lives would be quite the same again, now that they had officially come together. Joey continued to live the double life for now, as he allowed himself to become closer to Kaiba....atleast as close as the CEO would allow.

END


End file.
